BX  4946  .H8  V4  1905 
Vedder,  Henry  C.  1853-1935 
Balthasar  H  ubmaier,  the 
leader  of  the  Anabaptists 


H 


Heroes  of  the  Reformation 

A  Series  of  Biograpliies  of  the  Leaders 
of  the  Protestant  Reformation 

EDITED   BY 

SAMUEL   MACAULEY   JACKSON 

Professor  of  Church  History,  New  York  University 


Each  Crown  Octavo.     Fully  Illustrated 


FOR  FULL  LIST  SEE  END  OF  THIS  VOLUME 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS 
New  York  London 


1f3croes  of  tbe  TReformatton 

EDITED    BY 

Samuel  /IDacaules  Sacftson 

PROFESSOR   OF   CHURCH    HISTORY,    NEW   YORK 
UNIVERSITY 


DIVERSITIES  OF  GIFTS,    BUT  THE   SAME  SPIRIT, 


Balthasar  Hubmaier 


BALTHASAR    HUBMAIER. 
THE  ONLY  KNOWN  PORTRAIT.         FROM  AN  OLD  WOODCUT. 


Balthasar  HObmaier 

THE   LEADER   OF   THE 
ANABAPTISTS 


BY 

HENRY  C.  VEDDER 

PROFESSOR  OF  CHURCH  HISTORY  IN  CROZER  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


"  Die  gottliche  Warheit  ist  untodlich,  und  wiewohl  sy  sich 
ettwan  lang  fahen  lasst,  geyslen,  kronen,  creiitzigen  und  in  das 
Grab  legen,  wurdet  sy  doch  am  dritten  Tag  wiederumb  sygreich 
uferston  und  im  ewigkeit  regieren  und  triumphiren." 

HDbmaier,  Die  ander  Erbietung,  Schaffhausen,  1524. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS 
NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

Cbe  IRntcfterbocfter  press 
1905 


COPVRIGHT,    1905 
BY 

HENRY  C.  VEDDER 


Ube  tkniciierboclter  prees,  'Revf  ]|?orIt 


PREFACE 

/^NLY  two  biographies  of  Iliibmaier  have 
^-^  hitherto  appeared.  The  earHest  of  these, 
by  Dr.  F.  Hoschek,  was  written  in  Bohemian  and 
published  in  Brunn  in  1867.  It  is  very  valuable  for 
the  later  years,  and  contains  large  extracts  from  the 
writings  published  at  Nikolsburg.  For  the  earlier 
years  it  is  less  trustworthy.  An  English  translation 
of  the  text,  omitting  notes  and  illustrative  matter, 
was  made  by  Rev.  W.  W.  Everts,  D.D.,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  Texas  Baptist  Historical  Magazine  for 
1 89 1  and  1892.  The  other  biography,  in  German, 
is  by  Dr.  Johann  Loserth,  Professor  of  History  in 
the  University  of  Czernowitz,  and  was  published  at 
Briinn  in  1893.     It  has  never  been  translated. 

I  have  leaned  heavily  on  these  authorities,  and 
gladly  acknowledge  constant  and  great  obligations 
to  them,  especially  to  Loserth,  but  the  great  re- 
liance has  been  upon  the  writings  of  Hiibmaier 
himself.     The  collection  of  these  in  the  library  of 


iv  Preface 

the  Rochester  Theological  Seminary  is  nearly  com- 
plete, and  this  collection  has  been  generously  put  at 
my  disposal  by  the  librarian,  Rev.  Howard  Osgood, 
D.D.,  by  whom  it  was  first  made  many  years  ago. 
But  for  his  assistance  and  counsel  the  study  of  these 
writings  would  never  have  been  undertaken,  and 
could  not  have  been  successfully  prosecuted.  A 
number  of  the  booklets  Dr.  Osgood  long  ago  trans- 
lated, and  he  has  permitted  me  to  use  these  trans- 
lations freely  in  this  biography.  Other  of  the 
works  I  have  myself  translated,  and  the  pile  of 
manuscript  has  grown  to  such  proportions  as  to 
arouse  the  hope  that  at  no  distant  day  a  volume  of 
the  works  of  Hiibmaier  may  be  published,  which, 
if  not  absolutely  a  complete  edition,  will  contain 
everything  of  importance  that  his  pen  wrote. 

During  the  summer  of  1904  was  fulfilled  a  long- 
cherished  purpose  of  visiting  the  principal  scenes 
of  Hubmaier's  labours:  Augsburg,  Ingolstadt, 
Regensburg,  Waldshut,  Nikolsburg.  As  might  be 
anticipated,  few  actual  memorials  now  remain  of 
labours  so  remote,  and  these  few  are  much  altered 
by  decay  or  "restorations,"  and  yet  such  a  visit  is 
by  no  means  valueless.      Most   of  the  illustrations 


Preface  v 

of  this  work  were  gathered  by  this  means,  and  in- 
vestigation of  the  scene  of  long-forgotten  events 
was  profitable  in  supplementing  knowledge  gained 
from  documentary  sources,  and  correcting  errors  into 
which  one  who  had  never  seen  the  localities  would 
naturally  fall. 

Besides  the  authorities  named,  the  other  works 
that  have  been  found  directly  helpful  are  sufificiently 
mentioned  in  the  foot-notes  to  the  text.  The  actual 
composition  of  the  biography  has  occupied  such 
time  as  could  be  spared  from  other  engagements  for 
about  a  year,  but  it  has  in  reality  been  twenty  years 
in  the  making.  Let  us  hope  that  readers  will  not 
find  it  heavy  in  proportion ! 

Crozer  Theological  Seminary, 
May,  igo^. 


CONTENTS 


PAGH 

PREFACE iii 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER  I 

THE    ANABAPTISTS    AND    THE    REFORMATION  .  .  i 

CHAPTER  II 

THE    YEARS    OF    PREPARATION 
I481— 1520 
Birth  and  education — Doctor  of  Theology — Preacher 

at   Regensburg — At   Waldshut       ....       24 
Excursus  on  the  Spelling  of  Hubmaier's  name        .         .       66 

CHAPTER  III 
HUBMAIER    AN    EVANGELICAL    REFORMER 

1524 
Eighteen  theses — Waldshut's  quarrel  with  Austria — 

Flight  to  Schaffhausen — The  peasants'  war    .         .       69 

CHAPTER  IV 

HUBMAIER    BECOMES    AN    ANABAPTIST 
1524-1526 
Discussion  of  infant  baptism — Anabaptism  introduced 
at   Waldshut — Fall   of   Waldshut — and    flight   to 
Zurich    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .100 

Excursus  on  the  Act  of  Baptism  among  the  Anabaptists  .      142 


viii  Contents 

CHAPTER  V 

HUBMAIER    AT    NIKOLSBURG 
1526-1528 

PAGB 

Moravia  in  the  sixteenth  century — Progress  of  Evan- 
gehcal  religion — The  Lichtensteins — Hiibmaier's 
great  success — His  literary  activity — Characteris- 
tics as  a  writer — Troubles  at  Nikofebnrg:  Hans 
Hut,  Jacob  Widemann — The  Lichtensteins  inter- 
fere— Treatises:  The  Freedom  of  the  Will  and  On 
the  Sword        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .146 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE    TEACHINGS    OF    HUBMAIER 
1524-1527 

Hiibmaier  a  preacher  rather  than  a  theologian — Doc- 
trine of  the  Scriptures — Theology — Calvinist  or 
Arminian  ? — Anthropology — Differs  from  Luther 
on  the  will — Soteriology — Ecclesiology — Eschato- 
logy 178 

CHAPTER  VII 

HUBMAIER    THE    MARTYR 
1527-1528 

Persecution  begins  in  Moravia — Arrest  of  Hiibmaier — 
Hearing  in  Vienna — Imprisoned  at  Greisenstein — 
Interview  with  Faber — The  Rcchcnschaft — How 
far  did  he  recant? — Final  condemnation — The 
closing  scene  •         .         .         .         .         .         .219 


Contents  ix 

CHAPTER  VIII 
THE    SUPPRESSION    OF    THE    MORAVIAN    ANABAPTISTS 

PAGE 

Effect  of  Hiibmaier's  death — Troubles  increase  at  Nik- 
olsburg:  Schwertler  and  Stabler — Expulsion  of 
the  socialists — The  new  colonies  and  their  prosper- 
ity— Persecutions  of  1535 — The  protest — The 
Dietrichsteins  and  persecution  at  Nikolsburg — 
Final  disappearance  of  Anabaptists  from  Moravia.     245 

APPENDIX "on  THE  sword"  ....      273 

A  forgotten    HYMN    OF   HUBMAIER's      311 

INDEX 322 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Balthasar  Hubmaier    .         .  Frontispiece 

The  only  known  portrait.      From  an  old  woodcut 

Dr.  John  Eck  .......       22 

Traditional  portrait 

The  University  of  Ingolstadt,  as  it  is  To- 

Day   ........       26 

A  Lecture-Room    (possibly  Hubmaier's)   in 

THE  Old  University  of  Ingolstadt  .        28 

Church  of  the  Virgin,  Ingolstadt         .         .       30 

Memorial  Tablet  to  Dr.  John  Eck,  in  the 

Church  of  the  Virgin,  Ingolstadt        .       34 

The  Cathedral,  Regensburg  ...       38 

Here  Hubmaier  was  chief  preacher,  15 16-1520 

Interior  of  the  Regensburg  Cathedral       .       42 

The  tomb  in  the  nave  is  in  memory  of  Bishop 

Philip  William,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  and  was 

erected  in  1598 

The  Modern  Neupfarrkirche,  Regensburg         46 

The  farther  part,  with  the  towers,  is  part  of  Hiib- 

maier's  Chapel  Zur  Schonen  Maria 

xi 


xli  Illustrations 


PAGE 


Dominican  Monastery,  Regensburg      .         .       50 
Waldshut  and  the  Rhine       ....       54 

Waldshut         .......       76 

Showing  old  tower  and  Hubmaier's  church 

View  of  Schaffhausen    .....       82 

The  Munster,  or  Chief  Church  of  Schaff- 
hausen      .......       92 

Portrait  of  CEcolampadius     ....       98 
From  an  old  woodcut 

Portrait  Statue  of  CEcolampadius         .         .      120 
Cloister  wall  of  the  Cathedral,  Basel 

Huldrich  Zwingli  .....      138 

From  a  mezzotint  by  R.  Houston 

A  General  View  of  Modern  Nikolsburg       .     148 
View  of  Nikolsburg  in  1678  .         .         .     176 

From  an  old  print 

Castle  Greifenstein,  as  it  Appears  now      .     224 

Vienna  in  the   First  Half  of  the   Seven- 
teenth Century 240 

The  Tower  of  the  Castle  at  Nurnberg,  in 

which  Anabaptists  were  Imprisoned      .     246 


Illustrations  xiii 

PAGE 

A  Room  in  the  Tower  at  Nurnberg      .         .     256 

Instruments  of  Torture  at  the  Tower  of 

Nurnberg 266 

Facsimile   of  Hubmaier's  First  Appeal  to 

the  Council  of  Schaffhausen        .  Appendix 
Original  in  the  Schaflfhausen  archives 

Map:    The  Sce'Ne  of   Hubmaier's   Life    and 

Labour      ......        At  end 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

HUBMAIER'S  CHIEF  WRITINGS 

Explanation  of  signs.  The  first  letter  appended  to  a  title  indicates  the  place 
where  the  original  may  be  found.  B  =  collection  of  Dr.  Beck,  now  in  Vienna. 
MA  =  Moravian  Archives.  V  =  Vienna,  Hofbibliothek.  R  =  copy  in  the 
library  of  the  Rochester  Theological  Seminary.  The  letters  H,  L,  S,  appended 
in  addition,  signify  that  the  document  is  reprinted  by  one  of  Hiibmaier's  bi- 
ographers, Hoschek,  Loserth,  or  Schreiber.  For  convenience  these  writings  are 
frequently  cited  in  the  following  pages  by  their  numbers,  as  Op.  i.  Op.  22,  etc. 

1.  Achtzehn  Schhissi-ede,  so  betreffende  eyn  gantz  Christlich 
Leben,  woran  es  gelegen  ist.  Disputiert  zu  Waldshut,  von  Doctor 
Balthassar  Fridberger.      1524.     B.  H.  L. 

2.  Eine  ernstliche  Christliche  erbietung  an  einen  ersamen  Rath 
zu  Schaffhusen,  durch  doctor  Baldazar  Hubmor  von  Fridberg  Pfar- 
ren  ze  Walshut  beschehen.      1524. 

Original  in  Schaffhausen  Archives.     L.,  Beilag-e,  No.  2. 

3.  Uoti  ketzern  vndiren  verbrennern  vergleichung  der  Gschrifften, 
zusammengezogen  durch  doctor  Balthazar  Fridbergern  pfarren  zu 
Waldsshut.      1524.     B.  R. 

Reprinted  in  this  volume. 

4.  Schlussreden  die  Baldazar  Fridberger  Pfarrer  zu  Waltzhut  ein 
Bruder  Huldrychs  Zwinglis  dem  Joanni  Eckio  zu  Ingoldstatt  die 
meysterlich  zu  examinieren  furbotten  hat.     Zurich,  1524. 

Library  of  University  of  Basel.     H.  L.  S. 

5.  Von  dem  Christlichen  Toiiff  der  Gldubigen  durch  Balthasarn 
Htiebmor  von  Friedberg,  yetz  zu  Waldshut  ausgangen.  1525. 
B.  R. 

6.  Ain  Sum  ains  gatizen  christlichen  Lebens,  durch  Baldasaren 
Frydberger,  Predicant,  yetz  zu  Waldshut,  etc.     1525.    B,  R. 


xvi  Bibliography 

7.  Ettlich  bcschlussreden  von  Doctor  Paltus  Fridberger  zu  Walz- 
hut,  alien  Christen,  von  Undericht  der  Mess.    Zurich.     1525.     1..  S. 

8.  Balthazars  Friedbergers  zu  Waldshiit  offentliche  erbietiing  an 
alle  christglaubige  menschen,  an  andern  tag  des  Ilornungs  be- 
schehen.     1525. 

Original  in  the  Archives  of  St.  Gall.     S. 

9.  Ein  wahrhartig  Entschuldigung  tittd  Klag  gemeiner  Stadt 
Waldshut  von  Schultheiss  und  Rath  allda  an  alle  christglaubigen 
Menschen,  ausgegangen  anno  1525. 

Original  in  the  Archives  of  Basel.  Reprinted  by  Strickler, /I c^r«Jfl»/«//a«.f, 
i.,  No.  932. 

10.  Ein  Gesprcch  Balthasar  Hubemors  von  Fridberg  auff  May- 
ster  Ulrichs  Zwinglens  zu  Ziirich  Tauffbiiechlen  von  dem  Khinder- 
tauff.     Nicolspurg.     1526.     V.  R. 

11.  Ein  Christennliche  Leertafel  die  ein  eydlicher  mensch  ee 
und  er  im  Wasser  getaufft  vvird  vor  wissen  solle.  D.  Balthasar 
Huebmor  vonn  Fridberg.     Nicolspurg.     1526.     V.  R.  H. 

12.  Dcr  Uralten  und  gar  netden  Leeren  Urtail  das  men  die 
iungen  khindlen  nit  tauffen  solle  bisz  sy  im  glauben  unnderricht 
sind.     Nicolsperg.     1526.     V.   R. 

13.  Ein  kurze  entschuldigung  T).  Balthasar  Huebmors  von  Frid- 
berg an  alle  Christglaubige  menschen  das  sy  sich  an  den  erdichtenn 
unnwahrhayten  so  im  sein  miszgoner  zu  legen  nit  ergern.  Nicols- 
purg.    1526.     V.  R. 

14.  Ein  kiirzes  vater  unser.  D.  Balthasar  Ilubmor  von  Fridberg. 
Nicolspurg,  1526.     V.  R. 

15.  Ein  einfeltiger  unnderricht  aufT  die  wort.  Das  ist  der  leib 
mein  in  dcm  Nachtmal  Christi  D.  Balthasar  Huebmors  von  Frid- 
berg.    Nicolspurg.     1526.     V.  R.  H. 

16.  Grund  und  Ursach,  Das  ein  eydlicher  mensch  der  gleich 
in  seiner  khindheit  getauflft  ist.  schuldig  sey,  sich  recht  nach  der 
Ordnung  Christi  ze  tauffen  lassen.  ob  er  schon  hundert  jar  allt  were. 
D.  Balthazar  Hubmor  von  Fridberg.     Nicolspurg.      1527.     V.  R. 


Bibliography  xvil 

17.  Von  dem  Khindertauff.  Ekolampadius,  Thomas  Augus- 
tinianer  Leesmaister  M.  Jacob  Immelen  M.  Vuolfg.  Weissenburger 
Balthasar  Hiibmor  von  Fridberg.     Nicolspurg.      1527.     V.  R.  H. 

18.  Die  zivclf  Artikel  christenlichs  glaubens  ze  Ziirch  im  Was- 
sertthurn.  in  Bett  weis  gestellt.  D.  Balthasar  Huebmor.  Nicols- 
burg.     1527.     V.  R. 

19.  Ein  Form  ze  Tauffen  im  wasser  die  unnderrichten  im  glau- 
ben.  D.  Balthasar  Hiibmor  von  Fridberg.  Nicolspurg.  1527. 
V,  R.  H. 

20.  Ein  Form  des  Nachtmals  Christi.  D.  Balthasar  Hiibmor 
von  Fridberg.      1527.     V.  R.  H. 

Reprinted  in  Calvary's  Miitheilungen. 

21.  Von  der  Brieder lichen  straff.  Wo  die  nit  ist,  da  ist  gewisz- 
lich  auch  khain  Kirch  ob  schon  der  Wassertauff  und  das  Nachtmal 
Christi  daselbs  gehalten  werdent.  D.  Balthasar  Hoebmoer  von 
Fridberg.     Nicolsburg.     1527.     MA.  H. 

22.  Von  dem  Christlichen  Banii.  Wo  derselb  nit  auffgericht  und 
gebraucht  wirdt  nach  dem  ordenlichen  und  ernstlichen  bevelh 
Christi,  daselbs  regirt  nichts,  denn  sUnd,  schand  und  laster.  D. 
Balthasar  Huebmor  von  Fridberg.     Nicolspurg.     1527,     MA.  R. 

23.  Von  der  Freyhait  des  Willens.  Die  Gott  nach  sein  gesendet 
wort  anbeut  alien  menschen  und  ihnen  darin  gewalt  gibt  seine 
khinder  ze  werden  auch  die  waal  natur  seind  ze  bleiben  lassen. 
G.  Balthasar  Huebmor  von  Fridberg.  Nicolspurg.  1527.  MA. 
R.  H. 

24.  Das  ander  Bicchlein  von  der  Freiwilligkeit  des  tnenscheiis. 
In  welchem  Schrifft  bezeugt  wirdt,  das  Gott  durch  sein  gesenndt 
wort  alien  menschen  gwalt  geve  seine  Kinder  zu  werden,  und  die 
wal  guttes  zu  wollen  und  ze  thon  frey  haym  setze.  Auch  darbey 
die  gegenschrifften  des  Widertayls  auffgeloset.  Balthasar  Hiibmor 
von  Fridberg.     Nicolspurg.     1527.     MA.     R.  H. 

25.  Von  dem  Schwert.  Ein  Christennliche  erklerung  der  Schriff- 
ten,  so  wider  die  Oberkeit  (das  ist,  das  die  Christen  nit  soUent  im 
Gwalt  sitzen,  noch  das  schwert  siern)  von  etlichen  Briiedern  gar 
ennstlich  angezogen  werdent.  D.  Balthasar  Hiiebmor  von  Frid- 
berg.    1527.     MA.     R.  H. 


xviii  Bibliography 

26.     Rechenschaft  seines  Glaubens  an  den  Konig,  in  27  Artikeln. 
Original  in  the  Archives,  Vienna  ;  reprinted  by  L.,  somewhat  abridged. 

OTHER  SOURCES 

Bfxk,  Geschichts-Biicher  dcr  Wiedertdufer  in  Oesterreich- 
Ungarn,     Vienna,  18S3. 

This  volume  of  invaluable  extracts  from  the  scattered  Anabaptist 
chronicles,  and  other  original  sources,  is  duly  appreciated  in  the 
Preface.  Dr.  Beck's  collection  is  in  the  possession  of  his  family  (he 
died  in  1890),  but  it  has  been  put  at  the  disposal  of  Dr.  Loserth 
and  other  investigators.  It  is  the  richest  collection  of  Analjaptist 
literature  in  existence,  and  contahis  copies  of  a  large  number  of 
scarce  or  unique  writings. 

Egli,  Actensatnmliing  zur  Geschkhte  der  Ziircher  Reformation  in 
den  Jahren  1519-1533.     Zurich,  1879. 

Contains  several  valuable  documents  concerning  the  process  against 
Hlibmaier  at  Zurich. 

Fabri,  Vrsach  wariimb  der  Widertauffer  Patron  uund  erster 
Anfenger  Doctor  Balthasar  Ifuebmayr  zu  IVien  auff  den  zehnten 
Martii  Anno  1^28  verbrennt  sey,     Vienna,  1528. 

Unique  and  invaluable  account  of  the  Vienna  process,  sentence, 
and  execution  of  HUbmaier.  Reprinted  by  Loserth,  as  Beilage 
No.  10. 

Fabri,  Adversus  Balthasarum   Pacimontanutn,   Anabaptistorum 

nostri  sccctili  primtim  authorem,  orthodoxix  Jidei  catholiccs,  defensio, 
Leipzig,  1528. 

A  small  tractate  of  only  22  leaves.  The  tone  is  polemic,  and  but 
few  facts  are  added  to  our  knowledge  by  it. 

FOSSLIN,  Beitrdge  zur  Erlauterung  der  A'irchen-Reformations- 
geschichte  des  Schweizerbundes.     5  vols.     Zilrich,  1 741. 

A  storehouse  of  documents  of  the  highest  value,  well  known  to 
every  student  of  the  period. 


Bibliography  xix 


Gemeiner,  Chronik  von  Kcgensburg.     Regensburg,  1800-1803. 

Reprinted  in  vol.  xiii.  of  Chroniken  der  deutschcn  Stddte  vom  14 
bis  ins  16  Jahrhundert.  Leipzig,  1S24.  All  important  facts  are 
given  by  Loserth. 

Gemeiner,  Geschichte  der  Kii-chcnrf formations  in  Regensburg. 
Regensburg,  1792. 

Kessler,  Sabbata.    Chronik  der  Jahre  1523-1539.    St.  Gall,  1870. 

The  diary  of  the  Zwinglian  pastor  at  St.  Gall ;  abounds  in  valuable 
matter,  some  of  it  to  be  received  with  caution. 

Mittheilungen  aus  dent  Antiquariate  von  S.  Calvary  &  Co.,  Berlin. 
Berlin,  1870. 

This,  the  first  volume  of  a  projected  series  that  was  unfortunately 
not  continued,  contains  a  nearly  complete  list  of  Hubmaier's  writings 
and  a  reprint  of  his  tract,  Eiit  form  des  Nachtmals  Christi. 

OsTROFRANCUS,  de  Ratisbona,  vietropoli  Bojoarice  et  siibita  ibidem 
yudccoriim  proscriptione.     Augsburg,  1519. 

A  valuable  account,  by  a  monk  of  the  cloister  of  St.  Emmerau, 
contemporary  and  eye-witness,  of  the  agitation  against  the  Jews. 

ScHELHORN,  Beitrdge  zur  Erlauterung  der  Geschichte  besonders 
der  schwabischen  Kirchen  und  Gelehrten.  4  Parts.  Memmingen, 
1772-1775. 

Part  iv.  contains  material  of  use  for  the  biographer  of  Hlibmaier. 

Schtiltheiss  und  Rath  der  Stadt  Waldshut  an  die  Statthalter,  Re- 
genten,  und  Rathe  im  Oberelsass.  Bericht  liber  die  Thatigkeit 
Imers  und  Ulrichs  von  Habsperg  der  Auslieferung  des  Doctors 
Balthasar  Hubmaier.     Waldshut,  1523. 

Reprinted  in  Archiv  fur  osierreichischer  Geschichte,  vol.  Ixxxvii., 
95-99.     Very  valuable, 

Strickler,  Actensammhtng  zur  Schweizerischen  Reformations- 
^^j-f/^iV/^/^  in  den  Jahren  1521-1532.     5  vols.     Zurich,  1878-1884. 

This  collection  does  for  all  Switzerland  what  Egli  so  well  does  for 
Zurich  only.     Contains  some  documents  omitted  by  Egli. 


XX  Bibliography 

WiDMANN,  Chronik  von  Regensburg.     In  vol.  xv.  of  Chronik  der 
dentschitt  Stiidtc.     Leipzig,  1S78. 

With  the  chronicle  of  Gemeiner,  this  constitutes  our  chief  source 
of  information  regarding  Iliibmaier's  work  in  Regensburg. 

ZwiNGLi,     Wcrkc,    erste    vollstiindige    Ausgabe    durch    Melchior 
Schuler  und  Joh.  Schulthess.     8  vols.     Zurich,   182S-1861. 


ON  IIUBMAIER'S  BIOGRAPHY 

HOSCHEK,  Balthasar  Htibmaicr  a  pocatove  novokfestenstva  na 
Morav^.      Briinn,  1867. 

A  wonderfully  sympathetic  study,  seeing  that  the  author  is  a 
Roman  Catholic,  but  not  always  to  be  relied  on  in  matters  of  fact, 
and  still  more  frequently  astray  in  its  interpretations. 

LosERTH,  Doctor  Balthasar  Ilubmaicr  und  die  Anfange  der  Wie- 
dertaufer  in  Mahren.     Briinn,  1893, 

Though  a  Protestant,  the  author  is  less  sympathetic  than  Hoschek, 
but  more  accurate.  His  study  of  the  sources  and  literature  has  been 
exhaustive,  and  but  for  the  help  derived  from  his  book  this  volume 
could  never  have  been  written. 

ScHREiiiEK,  //ubniaicr,  der  Stifier  der  Wiedertdufer  auf  dem 
Schwart/walde,  in  his  Taschenbuch  fiir  Geschiclite  und  Alterthum 
in  Siid-Deutschland.      1839,  PP-  I-130;   1840,  pp.  153-234. 

This,  the  first  serious  attempt  to  write  a  biography  of  Hiibmaier, 
still  has  value.  It  is  an  incomplete  sketch,  a  promised  third  part,  to 
tell  the  story  of  the  work  in  Moravia,  never  having  been  published. 

Besides  these  formal  biographies,  there  are  a  number  of  excellent 
biographical  sketches  in  various  works  of  reference :  Cunitz,  in 
Herzog-Plitt,  Real  Kneyclopddie,  vi.,  344  sq.  Hegler,  in  Herzog- 
Ilauck,  Real  Encyelopiidie,  vii.,  418  sq.  Stern  in  Allgemcine 
deutsche  Biographie  ;  Veesenmeyer  in  Staudlin  and  Vater's  Kirchen- 
hist.  Archiv,  1826. 


Bibliography  xxi 

SOME  INDISPENSABLE  BOOKS 

Arnold,  Unparteyische  Kirchen-  und  Ketzer-historie.  3  vols. 
Schaffhausen,  1740-1742. 

An  old  and  deservedly  esteemed  work,  not  yet  entirely  superseded. 

'Qk^,  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Anabaptists.     London,  1903. 

The  author  writes  from  the  socialistic  point  of  view,  and  is  too 
anxious  to  show  that  the  Anabaptists  were  the  forerunners  of  modern 
socialism.  All  of  his  facts  are  selected,  and  some  are  distorted,  to 
prove  this  thesis.  Had  the  author  been  able  to  resist  this  advocacy  of 
a  theory,  he  would  have  produced  a  very  valuable  book.  As  it  is, 
his  book  cannot  be  neglected  by  any  student  of  the  Anabaptists. 

BULLINGER,  Der  Widcrtouffen  ursprung,  fiirgang,  Secten,  wasen, 
furnemen,  und  gemeine  jrer  leer  Artikel.     Zurich,  1561. 

BULLINGER,  Refortnationsgeschichte.     3  vols.     Frauenfeld,  1840. 

The  first-named  of  these  two  works  is  much  the  more  important 
for  our  purpose.  It  is  exceedingly  valuable,  when  due  allowance  for 
the  personal  equation  is  made.  BuUinger  was  strongly  prejudiced 
against  the  Anabaptists,  and  his  testimony  demands  critical  exami- 
nation and  frequent  correction. 

BuRRAGE,  History  of  the  Anabaptists  in  S%vitzerland.  Phila- 
delphia,  1882. 

Still  the  best  monograph  on  the  subject,  in  any  language. 

Cornelius,  Geschichte  des  M tins terisc hen  Aufruhrs.  Leipzig, 
1855,  i860. 

The  work  of  a  Roman  Catholic  (in  his  later  years  an  Old  Catholic), 
remarkable  for  learning  and  candour,  but  unfortunately  never  com- 
pleted. It  contains  valuable  documents  in  the  Appendix  to  either 
Part. 

Egli,  Die  Zuricher  Wiedertatifer.     Zurich,  1878. 

A  book  whose  value  is  in  inverse  ratio  to  its  size.  (It  is  a  booklet 
of  104  pages.) 


xxii  Bibliography 

FOSSLIN,  Kirchen-  und  Ketzer-geschichte  der  viittelalterischett 
Z^it.     3  vols.     Erlangen,  1 772-1 774. 

This  supplements  the  author's  Sabbata,  and  contains  much  docu- 
mentary and  other  information,  both  interesting  and  valuable. 

Hagenbacii,  y.  Ockolainpads  Lcben  und  ausgewahlte  Schriften. 
Elberfeld,  1859. 

An  interesting  biography  of  one  who  was  an  early  friend  of  Hub- 
maier,  and  never  became  his  enemy. 

Heath,  Anahaptism,  from  its  rise  at  Zwickau  to  its  Fall  at 
MUnster,  1521-1536.     London,  1895. 

A  book  to  which  may  be  applied  all  that  is  said  of  the  work  of 
Bax  above. 

Jackson,  Iluldreich  Zzuingli,  the  Reformer  of  German  Switzer- 
land.    New  York,  1903. 

The  best  biography  in  English.  Chap.  xii.  contains  a  clear  and 
candid  account  of  Anabaptism  at  Zurich  and  Hubmaier's  treatment 
there. 

Jackson,  Selected  Works  of  Iluldreich  Z^vingli.  Philadelphia, 
Igor. 

Kautsky,  Geschichte  des  Socialisinus,  von  Plato  bis  zu  den  Wie- 
dertaufern.     Stuttgart,  1895. 

The  author  gives  a  valuable  appreciation  of  the  Anabaptists,  but 
exaggerates  the  importance  of  the  socialistic  group  among  them. 

EosERTH,  Die  Sladt  Waldshut  und  die  vorderosterreichische 
Regierung  in  der  Jahren  1523-1526,  in  the  Archiv  fiir  Oestcr- 
rcichischcr  Geschichte,  Ixxxvii.,  i  sq. 

LosERTH,  Zur  Geschichte  der  IViedirtiiitfcr  in  Mcihren,  in  the 
Zcitschrift  fiir  allgemeine  Geschichte,  1884,  Heft  6. 

LosERTH,  Der  Communismus  des  Mdhrischen  Wiedertaufer  im 
16  und  17  Jahrhundert.     Vienna,  1894. 

These  three  are  all  valuable,  the  last  invaluable.  The  first  is  prac- 
tically reprinted  in  the  biography  of  Hlibmaier. 


Bibliography  xxlii 

Newman,  History  of  Anti-Pedobaptism,  from  the  Rise  of  Pedo- 
baptism  to  a.d.  1609.     Philadelphia,  1S97. 

This  gives  the  best  account  in  English  of  the  rise  and  general 
history  of  Anabaptism.  Chaps,  vii.,  viii.,  x. ,  and  xiv.  include  a  brief, 
accurate,  and  appreciative  account  of  Hiibmaier's  career. 

Ott,  Annales  Anabaptistici.     Basel,    1672. 

Like  Catrou's  Histoire  des  Anabaptistes  (Paris,  1615)  this  is  now 
superseded,  and  valuable  chiefly  for  the  documents  it  contains,  some 
of  which  are  important  and  not  easily  found  elsewhere. 

SCHREIBER,  Der  deutsche  Bauernkrieg.  3  vols.  Freiburg,  1863- 
1866. 

A  rich  and  instructive  collection  of  documents  rather  than  a 
history. 

Seidemann,  Thomas  Miintzer.     Dresden,  1842. 

While  still  the  best  single  book  on  the  famous  agitator,  it  demands 
considerable  correction  in  the  light  of  later  investigations. 

Stahelin,  Huldreich  Zwingli  :  sein  Leben  tind  Wirken.  Basel, 
vol.  i.,  1895  ;  vol.  ii.,  1897. 

The  standard  biography  in  German. 

Stern,  Ueber  die  Zwdlf  Artikel  der  Batiern.     Leipzig,  1868. 

A  monograph  of  considerable  value,  but  the  author's  hypothesis 
that  Hiibmaier  composed  the  Articles,  though  widely  adopted  as  if 
a  proved  fact  by  writers  hostile  to  Hiibmaier  and  the  Anabaptists, 
has  been  fully  disproved  by  later  investigation. 

Strobel,  Leben,  Schriften  jind  Lehren  Thomd  Miintzers  des 
Urhebers  des  Bauernaufruhrs  in  Thiiringen.     Nurnberg,  1795. 

This  small  and  now  very  scarce  book  is  an  unskilful  piece  of  bio- 
graphy, but  the  collection  of  documents  is  of  the  greatest  value. 
They  include  reprints  of  Munzer's  most  important  writings. 

Usteri,  Darstellung  der  Taujlehrc  Zwinglis,  in  Studien  und 
Kritiken  for  1882,  p.  205  sq. 


xxiv  Bibliography 

Wiedemann,  Dr.  Johann  Eck.     Regensburg,  1865. 

An  excellent  biography  of  Hubmaier's  teacher,  that  contains 
original  documentary  matter  illustrating  the  relations  of  master  and 
pupil  to  about  1520. 

WoLNY,  Die  WicJotauftr  in  Mdhren  in  Archiv  fiir  KunJe 
osUrreichischer  Geschichts-QuelUn ,      1850, 


BALTHASAR   HiJBMAIER 


BALTHASAR  HUBMAIER 


CHAPTER  I 

THE   ANABAPTISTS   AND   THE   REFORMATION 

TJ  EW  people  have  fared  so  hard  at  the  hands  of 
■'■  historians  as  the  Anabaptists.  Until  a  genera- 
tion ago,  writers  of  every  school  did  little  more 
than  repeat  the  rash  and  unjust  and  often  slander- 
ous statements  of  the  contemporaries  of  this  sect. 
For  these  sixteenth-century  denunciations  there  are 
some  obvious  excuses  to  be  made.  The  Anabap- 
tists were  the  most  universally  troublesome  of  all 
the  anti-Catholic  parties.  They  were  most  vexa- 
tious to  the  Romanists,  because  they  were  the  most 
logical,  consistent,  thorough-going,  and  determined 
opponents  of  the  Papacy  and  all  its  works.  They 
were  equally  vexatious  to  those  who  conducted  the 
reformations  in  the  various  states,   because   these 


2  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr 

were  all  more  or  less  illogical,  lukewarm,  and  in- 
clined to  compromise  with  the  old  order,  for  the 
sake  of  obtaining  the  support  of  princes  and  govern- 
ments, without  which  support  reform  was  believed 
to  be,  and  perhaps  would  have  been,  impracticable. 
It  was  natural  that  such  a  party,  a  veritable  Ishmael 
among  the  reformers,  should  come  to  be  disliked, 
distrusted,  feared  by  all,  and  that  it  should  be  de- 
nounced with  commensurate  warmth  and  energy. 

Then,  too,  certain  groups  of  this  party,  falling 
under  the  spell  of  preachers  whose  learning  and 
sense  were  no  match  for  their  eloquence,  and  misled 
by  a  certain  specious  but  false  exegesis  of  Scripture, 
were  betrayed  into  a  fanatical  expectation  of  the 
immediate  Parousia  and  the  founding  of  Christ's 
millennial  kingdom.  Under  the  stress  of  this  fanat- 
icism these  Anabaptists  fell  into  disorders  and  ex- 
cesses, the  stigma  of  which  would  in  any  case  have 
fallen  upon  the  rest,  even  had  not  their  opponents 
eagerly  seized  upon  this  pretext  to  involve  the 
whole  party  in  a  condemnation  as  fierce  and  bitter 
as  it  was  undiscriminating  and  often  unjust. 

Certain  groups  among  the  Anabaptists,  led  astray 
by  a  too  literal  interpretation  of  Christ's  words  and 


Anabaptists  and  the  Reformation      3 

of  apostolic  precedent,  professed  principles  of  non- 
resistance,  avoidance  of  oaths,  non-payment  of 
taxes,  community  of  goods, — doctrines  that  might 
easily  be  supposed,  even  by  the  sincere  among 
their  contemporaries,  in  their  application  to  involve 
the  entire  subversion  of  the  existing  civil  and  social 
and  religious  order.  That  men  should  shrink  from 
a  revolutionary  programme  so  comprehensive  and 
radical  need  surprise  nobody.  The  surprising  thing 
would  be  if  these  Anabaptist  vagaries  had  found 
any  favour  in  the  sixteenth  century.  They  barely 
find  tolerance  now,  to  say  nothing  of  favour. 

But,  worse  than  all,  the  Reformation  coincided 
with  a  time  of  great  social  changes  and  deep  social 
unrest.  Many  things  had  helped  to  bring  about  the 
decay  of  feudalism  and  the  decline  of  the  knights 
and  lesser  nobles,  but  the  invention  of  gunpowder 
had  dealt  the  final  blow.  In  the  last  analysis,  social 
and  political  supremacy,  in  the  case  of  any  order, 
rests  on  force.  So  long  as  the  mailed  knight  on  his 
mailed  horse  was  the  invincible  force,  to  him  fell 
honours  and  wealth,  lands  and  power.  But  the 
arquebus  and  cannon  changed  all  this.  Knighthood 
had    to   give   place    to    manhood.      The    meanest 


4  Balthasar  Iliibmaicr 

peasant  with  a  gun  in  his  hand  became  more  than 
the  miUtary  equal  of  the  knight,  whose  armour  was 
no  protection  against  bullet  or  ball,  and  whose 
lance,  sword,  and  mace  lost  all  their  terrors  for  the 
man  in  leather  jerkin.  Infantry,  not  cavalry,  be- 
came the  strength  of  armies.  With  this  decline  of 
the  military  power  of  the  knights  began  also  the  de- 
cay of  their  social  and  political  importance.  They 
fought  against  their  fate  desperately,  but  they 
might  as  well  have  set  themselves  against  the  tides. 

The  first  result  of  this  social  change  was  a  marked 
increase  in  the  power  of  kings  and  ruling  princes. 
Feudalism  made  for  decentralisation :  it  was  anti- 
national,  the  apotheosis  of  individualism.  That  is 
to  say,  feudalism  was  this  in  practice.  The  great 
feudatories  were  always  turbulent,  always  rebellious 
against  the  authority  of  their  nominal  suzerain,  the 
king,  so  that  the  royal  authority  was  a  mere  shadow. 
But  in  the  sixteenth  century  this  was  rapidly  chang- 
ing: the  power  of  the  nobles  was  declining,  while 
the  royal  authority  was  becoming  a  thing  to  be 
reckoned  with  and  feared. 

Parallel  with  this  decline  of  the  nobility,  and  con- 
tributing much  to  hasten  the  process,  was  another 


Anabaptists  and  the  Reformation      5 

great  social  change,  the  accumulation  of  large  for- 
tunes by  the  more  enterprising  among  the  burgher 
class.  The  multi-millionaires  of  our  day  have  their 
counterpart,  on  a  smaller  scale,  among  the  mer- 
chants, manufacturers,  and  printers  of  the  free  cities 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  Many  of  these  so  pro- 
spered that  they  were  able  to  live  in  a  splendour  that 
vied  with  that  of  kings  and  far  outshone  the  state  of 
ordinary  nobles.  While  the  castles  of  the  knights 
still  lacked  what  we  should  now  reckon  the  ordinary 
necessaries  and  decencies  of  life,  the  town  house  of 
the  wealthy  merchant  or  tradesman  was  the  abode 
not  only  of  comfort  but  of  luxury.  The  attempts 
of  the  nobles  to  equal  this  splendour  of  apparel,  this 
sumptuousness  of  living — attempts  all  the  more  de- 
termined because  the  high-born  noble  despised  his 
burgher  rival — only  resulted  in  their  more  rapid  im- 
poverishment and  more  speedy  extinction. 

•As  the  drowning  man  clutches  at  the  proverbial 
straw,  the  knights  in  their  distress  tried  to  wring 
more  money  out  of  the  class  dependent  upon  them, 
the  peasants.  For  a  time,  therefore,  the  lot  of  these 
long-suffering  people,  whose  emancipation  was  in 
the   end   to   come   out   of   this   ver}^   turmoil,   grew 


6  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

worse  rather  than  better.  They  had  been  scourged 
with  whips  before,  now  they  were  scourged  with 
scorpions.  The  result  was  that  the  peasantry  were 
seething  with  dissatisfaction,  ready  for  any  de- 
sperate revolt  at  the  first  promise  of  betterment  of 
their  fortunes,  only  too  willing  to  lend  eager  ears 
to  any  who  would  prophesy  that  the  good  time 
coming  was  almost  here.  And  with  this  state  of 
things  the  first  throes  of  the  Reformation  and  the 
circulation  of  Luther's  brave  early  demands  for 
freedom  exactly  coincided.  It  is  no  marvel  that 
the  peasants  expected  more  than  was  then  possible, 
that  they  were  misguided  by  fanatics  into  a  prema- 
ture uprising.  Nor  is  it  any  wonder  that  some  of 
the  Anabaptists  were  drawn  into  this  movement. 
Many  of  them  were  from  this  peasant  class,  knew 
fully  their  wrongs,  sympathised  with  their  hopes  and 
aspirations,  and,  it  must  be  added,  became  par- 
takers of  their  errors  and  excesses. 

A  scapegoat  for  these  errors  must  be  found. 
The  Roman  Catholic  writers  of  the  period  were  in- 
clined to  lay  all  the  blame  on  Luther  and  his  writ- 
ings. This  was  unfair,  but  Luther  and  his  followers 
became  greatly  alarmed  lest  the  princes  of  Germany 


Anabaptists  and  the  Reformation      7 

should  adopt  this  view  of  the  case  and  decline  to 
support  his  reformation.  They  therefore  fixed 
upon  the  Anabaptists  as  the  party  that  should  be 
made  to  bear  all  the  reproach  of  the  social  disorders 
of  the  time.  The  rest  was  easy.  It  was  only 
necessary  to  make  the  name  Anabaptist  a  general 
term  of  opprobrium,  like  "scoundrel,"  "villain," 
"heretic,"  and  apply  it  recklessly  to  any  party  or 
to  any  man  disapproved  by  the  speaker  or  writer, 
to  all  who  had  published  unorthodox  opinions  or 
been  guilty  of  unworthy  deeds.  This  was  done  for 
generations  by  writers  who  repeated  these  whole- 
sale slanders  without  taking  the  least  trouble  to 
discover  the  facts.  What  wonder  that  the  name 
Anabaptist  still  reeks  with  foul  suggestions,  after 
standing  through  more  than  three  centuries  for  the 
sum  of  all  wickedness,  the  synonym  of  all  that  is 
falsest  in  doctrine  and  vilest  in  practice? 

One  of  the  earliest  notes  of  dissent  from  this  un- 
sparing condemnation,  if  not  the  first  of  all,  was 
sounded  by  a  Roman  Catholic  writer.  Dr.  Cornelius, 
of    Bonn.'      He    first    spoke    an    effective  word    in 


'  A  captious  critic  might  object  that  Dr.  Cornelius  should  not  be 
described  thus,  since  he  belonged  for  the  last  thirty  years  of  his  life 


8  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

mitigation  of  judgment  upon  the  Anabaptists,  ar.d 
declared  that  their  real  history  had  yet  to  be  written 
His  contributions  to  our  knowledge  of  the  Miinster 
affair  are  not  only  of  great  value  in  themselves,  but 
his  labours  encouraged  other  scholars  to  delve 
among  the  records  for  the  facts  regarding  a  much- 
misunderstood  and  greatly  abused  people.  The 
next  great  service  was  rendered  by  Dr.  Josef  Beck, 
Counsellor  of  the  Austrian  Supreme  Court  of  Judi- 
cature, whose  Geschichts-Bucher  der  Wiedertdiifcr 
(Historical  Writings  of  the  Anabaptists) '  marks  an 
epoch  in  the  study  of  these  people.  With  great 
industry  he  gathered  from  archives  and  libraries  a 
vast  mass  of  original  Anabaptist  literature,  to  which 
he  added  a  rich  collection  of  his  own ;  and  from 
these  sources  he  collated,  condensed,  and  edited  a 
volume  that  for  the  first  time  gave  the  world  an  in- 
side view  of  Anabaptist  teaching  and  history. 

It  is  not  practicable,  nor  is  it  necessary,  to  speak 


to  the  Old  Catholics.  But  at  the  time  he  wrote  this  book  he  was  in 
full  communion  with  the  Roman  Church,  had  shown  no  symptom  of 
separation  from  it,  and  was,  so  far  as  anything  appeared,  in  full 
sympathy  with  all  its  doctrines.  What  else  but  a  Roman  Catholic 
should  one  call  him  in  1855  ? 

'  This  was  published  in   1883,  as  vol.  xliii.  in  the  Fontes  Keruin 
Austriacarnfn,  Second  Series,  and  also  reprinted  separately. 


Anabaptists  and  the  Reformation      9 

of  all  who  have  since  laboured  in  this  field  with 
diligence  and  success.  One  writer  should  be  noted, 
however,  as  easily  surpassing  all  others  during  the 
past  two  decades  in  the  extent  and  value  of  his 
work, — Dr.  Ludwig  Keller,  State  Archivist  at  Miin- 
ster.  Dr.  Keller's  special  contribution  has  been  to 
show  the  genetic  relation  of  the  Anabaptists  of  the 
Reformation  period  to  the  older  reform-parties. 
And  if  at  times  his  conclusions  have  outrun  his 
facts,  and  depended  for  their  soundness  rather  on 
his  historical  insight  than  on  any  definite  proofs  he 
has  been  able  to  bring  forward,  this  cannot  be  said 
to  vitiate  the  greater  part  of  his  work. 

Whether  documentary  proofs  will  ever  be  forth- 
coming to  establish  a  clear  historical  connection  be- 
tween the  Anabaptists  and  the  older  evangelical 
sects  who  taught  similar  doctrines  and  practices,  is 
a  question  that  for  the  present  had  better  be  rele- 
gated for  discussion  to  such  as  are  confident  that 
they  possess  the  gift  of  prophecy.  That  there  is  a 
genetic  connection  we  are  fairly  entitled  to  assume, 
by  the  practice  of  all  historical  investigators,  not  as 
a  thing  completely  proved,  but  as  a  convenient  and 
safe  working  hypothesis.     Take  a  parallel  case.     It 


lo  Ralthasar  Hiibmaier 

cannot  be  said  to  be  established,  by  satisfactory 
historical  proof,  that  there  is  a  genetic  connection 
between  the  heretical  groups  or  parties  known  as 
Paulicians,  Bogomils,  and  Albigenses.  They  arc 
widely  separated  in  time  and  space,  and  visible  links 
to  connect  them  there  are  none.  Yet  the  Manichaean 
element  common  to  their  theology  and  organisation 
is  so  distinct  as  to  make  it  certain  that  a  genetic 
connection  subsists  between  them,  whether  it  can 
be  traced  or  not.  Documentary  proof  is  only  one 
method,  after  all,  of  convincing  the  human  reason 
as  to  historical  fact :  there  are  other  methods  that 
are  both  effective  and  valid.  Historical  investiga- 
tion, though  it  is  quite  right  to  rely  mainly  on  docu- 
ments, cannot  altogether  ignore  other  methods  of 
reaching  truth. 

The  characteristic  feature  of  all  these  older  re- 
form-parties is  that,  beginning  in  each  instance  as  a 
revolt  from  a  corrupt  and  impure  Church,  and  at- 
tempting to  return  to  the  Scriptural  ideals  of  faith 
and  practice,  these  parties  reach  at  length  an  identi- 
cal conclusion :  that  a  pure  church  cannot  exist  ex- 
cept on  the  basis  of  believers'  baptism,  and  that  the 
baptism   of   infants  is  totally   unwarranted   by  the 


Anabaptists  and  the  Reformation     n 

Scriptures,  In  many  other  details  these  parties 
differ;  in  this  they  are  a  unit.  This  was  the  con- 
clusion of  the  earliest  of  these  parties,  the  Petro- 
brusians;  as  to  that,  the  testimony  of  their  great 
Roman  Catholic  opponent,  Peter  the  Venerable, 
leaves  no  possibility  of  doubt.  The  same  con- 
clusions were  reached  by  the  followers  of  Peter 
Waldo — by  those,  at  least,  on  the  French  side  of 
the  Alps,  if  we  may  accept  the  unanimous  testi- 
mony of  their  contemporary  Roman  critics  and 
persecutors.  Neither  of  these  bodies  is  called  Ana- 
baptist by  their  contemporary  and  hostile  chron- 
iclers. This  may  be  because  they  did  not  commonly 
rebaptise  adults  who  had  (in  their  view)  received  a 
null-and-void  so-called  baptism  in  their  infancy.' 
They  may  never  have  seen  that  logical  consistency 
required  this  of  them — we  know  that  for  a  time  such 
was  the  case  with  the  Swiss  Anabaptists — and  they 
may  have  contented  themselves  with  making  their 

'  That  some  of  the  Petrobrusians,  at  any  rate,  rebaptised  is  proved 
by  the  fact  that  Peter  puts  these  words  into  their  mouths:  "  We  wait 
for  the  proper  time,  after  a  man  is  prepared  to  know  his  God  and 
believe  in  him;  we  do  not  (as  you  accuse  us)  rebaptise  him,  but  we 
baptise  him  who  can  be  said  never  to  have  been  baptised." — Contra 
Petrobrnsia7tos  Hareticos,  Migne's  Latin  Patrology,  clxxxix.,  729. 
These  words  might  be  taken  from  a  treatise  of  Hiibmaier,  so  well  do 
they  express  his  ideas. 


12  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

protest  against  the  baptism  of  infants.  Or,  it  may 
be  that  they  rebaptised,  but  the  Roman  writers 
were  ignorant  of  the  practice,  or  did  not  think  it 
worthy  of  mention.  Neither  of  the  last  two  sug- 
gestions seems  very  probable. 

These  earlier  evangelical  parties,  though  severely 
persecuted, — perhaps  in  consequence  of  such  per- 
secution,—  had  spread  themselves  widely  abroad. 
Originating  in  Southern  France,  they  had  not  only 
made  their  way  across  the  Alpine  passes  into 
Northern  Italy,  but  had  sent  their  missionaries 
throughout  Switzerland  and  Germany.  Roman 
Catholic  literature  testifies  unmistakably  both  to 
the  extent  and  to  the  success  of  this  evangelisation. 
Communities  of  Waldenses  were  gathered  every- 
where, and  the  severest  persecution  did  not  succeed 
in  utterly  eradicating  these  heretics  from  the  regions 
in  which  they  once  obtained  a  foothold.  That  a 
secret  existence  of  the  sect  was  maintained  in  many 
quarters  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  authorities 
occasionally  lighted  upon  such  a  case.  The  possi- 
bility, the  credibility  even,  of  many  such  survivals 
down  to  the  Reformation  era,  is  suflficiently  estab- 
lished by  the  history  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  which 


Anabaptists  and  the  Reformation     13 

was  preserved  in  secret,  even  the  due  succession 
of  its  bishops  being  maintained,  for  more  than  a 
century.  The  close  correspondence  in  doctrine  and 
practice  between  Petrobrusians  and  Waldenses,  be- 
tween Waldenses  and  Anabaptists,  even  in  the  ab- 
sence of  definite  documentary  proofs,  warrants  the 
conclusion  that  in  these  successive  sects  we  really 
study  the  history  of  a  single  evangelical  movement, 
which,  in  various  regions  and  under  different  names, 
has  persisted  without  a  break  from  the  twelfth  cent- 
ury (and  perhaps  earlier  still)  to  the  present  day. 

If  such  is  the  case,  the  Anabaptists  of  the  six- 
teenth century  are  not  so  related  to  the  Reforma- 
tion as  has  generally  been  supposed.  They  are  not, 
that  is  to  say,  an  offshoot  of  the  Reformation, 
though  they  might,  indeed,  be  called  its  root,  since 
they  are  both  older  and  more  primitive  in  practice. 
Among  the  " Reformers  before  the  Reformation" 
whose  labours  deserve  to  be  better  recognised  are 
those  evangelical  preachers  who  for  centuries  had 
been  gradually  leavening  Central  Europe  with  the 
truths  of  the  gospel,  and  preparing  the  way  for  the 
great  spiritual  revolution  to  come.  A  history  of 
their   labours  cannot   indeed   be  written ;   material 


14  Balthasar  Hlibmaier 

may  never  be  discovered  for  such  ;i  liistory,  though 
doubtless  large  additions  will  yet  be  made  to  our 
present  knowledge  by  scholarly  diligence.  The 
broad  outlines  even  are  vague  and  conjectural.  We 
can  only  infer  from  a  few  known  facts,  and  from 
certain  observed  phenomena  in  connection  with  the 
Reformation,  that  the  influence  of  this  evangel  upon 
the  people  has  been  too  lightly  estimated  by  many 
who  have  passed  for  critical  historians. 

However  scholars  may  finally  agree  upon  the 
question  of  the  origin  of  the  Anabaptists,  certain 
things  concerning  them  are  now  comparatively 
plain.  The  great  majority  of  them  were  peaceable 
folk,  law-abiding  people,  asking  nothing  but  that 
they  might  be  permitted  to  worship  and  serve  God 
in  their  own  way,  and  wishing  no  harm  to  those 
who  held  to  different  ways.  There  was  a  mystical 
element  in  their  doctrines,  the  foundation  stone  of 
which  was  the  conviction  that  to  be  a  Christian  is  to 
be  united  by  faith  to  the  Son  of  God,  so  as  to  be  a 
partaker  of  his  nature.  This  cannot  be,  save  by  a 
complete  change  of  nature,  character,  life.  One 
cannot  be  a  Christian,  therefore,  by  inheritance,  by 
education,    by    sacraments;    repentance,    faith,    re- 


Anabaptists  and  the  Reformation     15 

generation,  are  necessary  to  produce  this  intimate 
personal  relation  with  Christ.  Flesh  and  blood 
cannot  inherit  the  kingdom :  to  enter  it  one  must 
be  born  again. 

This  notion  of  the  essential  nature  of  Christianity 
led  them  to  their  idea  concerning  the  Church.  This 
outward  embodiment  of  the  kingdom  should  be,  so 
far  as  is  humanly  possible,  composed  of  those  only 
who  have  been  regenerated  by  the  Spirit,  who  have 
become  vitally  one  with  Christ  by  faith,  and  are 
continuing  in  such  union  with  him,  as  is  shown  by 
their  bringing  forth  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit.  Such  a 
Church  could  not  possibly  exist  if  it  were  ruled  by 
princes  and  town  councils;  hence  the  Anabaptists 
insisted  on  the  sharp  separation  between  the  secular 
and  the  spiritual — as  we  should  say,  between  Church 
and  State.  The  civil  magistrate,  in  their  view,  had 
nothing  to  do  with  matters  of  religion.  He  had 
discharged  his  full  duty  when  he  had  protected  the 
innocent  and  peaceable,  and  punished  the  evil-doer. 
For  this  he  bore  the  sword  and  was  a  minister  of 
God ;  anything  more  was  a  usurpation.  And  it 
equally  followed  that  entrance  into  such  a  Church  as 
they  contemplated  must  be  made  by  the  voluntary 


1 6  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

act  of  the  individual  concerned,  and  could  not 
possibly  be  accomplished  for  him  by  another.  In- 
fant baptism  was  therefore  objectionable  to  them, 
not  only  because  they  found  it  to  be  neither  taught 
by  precept  nor  warranted  by  example  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, but  because  it  was  essentially  an  impertinence, 
the  anticipatory  doing  by  others  of  that  which  it 
was  alike  the  privilege  and  the  duty  of  every  be- 
liever to  do  for  himself.  As  an  act  performed  with- 
out faith,  it  was  to  them  null  and  void.  Hence 
they  always  resented  the  name  Anabaptist  {re- 
baptisers),  and  protested  that  it  was  a  complete  mis- 
nomer, since  they  administered  the  first  and  only 
real  baptism — the  baptism  of  a  believer — and  that 
the  so-called  baptism  of  an  unbeliever  is  no  baptism 
at  all,  but  an  empty  and  meaningless  form.  As 
Hiibmaier  pithily  put  it  for  all  of  them,  "Water  is 
not  baptism,  else  the  whole  Danube  were  baptism, 
and  the  fishermen  and  boatmen  would  be  daily 
baptised." 

There  was  but  one  other  principle  on  which  all 
Anabaptists  were  agreed :  the  supremacy  of  the 
Scriptures  as  a  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  They 
rather  assumed  than  asserted  a  doctrine  of  inspira- 


Anabaptists  and  the  Reformation     17 

tion,  and  confined  themselves  generally  to  an  asser- 
tion of  the  authority  of  the  Bible  without  defining 
the  grounds  on  which  such  authority  rested.  They 
made  no  such  distinction  as  is  attributed  to  certain 
heretical  sects  between  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
New.  They  received  the  whole  Bible  as  equally 
authoritative,  but  not  equally  authoritative  for  all 
purposes.  Here  they  made  a  distinction,  namely, 
that  the  New  Testament  is  our  sole  source  of  know- 
ledge of  all  that  pertains  to  the  Christian  Church, 
and  they  would  not  admit  the  validity  of  argu- 
ments drawn  from  Jewish  institutions  to  prove 
what  should  exist  under  the  gospel. 

The  mystical  element  in  Anabaptist  teaching  is 
apparent  in  what  some  of  them  say  about  the  inter- 
pretation of  Scripture.  A  special  illumination  is 
not  only  promised  to  every  believer,  but  is  indis- 
pensable for  the  understanding  of  the  word  of  God, 
since  the  natural  man  cannot  comprehend  the  things 
of  the  Spirit,  but  spiritual  things  must  be  spiritually 
discerned.  Though  we  may  trace  some  likeness 
here  between  their  teaching  and  the  doctrines  of  the 
earlier  Montanists  and  the  later  Friends,  we  miss 
altogether  that  exaggerated  notion  of  an  inner  light 


i8  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr 

of  the  Spirit  which  is  superior  in  authority  to  the 
external  word.  This  inner  light,  according  to  the 
Anabaptist,  is  bestowed  not  to  supersede  the  written 
word,  but  to  make  it  possible  for  the  humblest  be- 
liever to  understand  and  follow  that  word.  With 
the  Friend,  the  seat  of  authority  is  and  must  be 
within  himself;  he  must  listen  to  the  voice  of  the 
Spirit  speaking  to  his  own  soul,  though  it  supple- 
ment, even  if  it  contradict,  the  written  word. 
With  the  Anabaptist,  the  seat  of  authority  is  the 
declared  will  of  God  in  the  Scriptures,  and  the  light 
of  the  Spirit  is  given  to  make  these  plain  to  him ; 
and  he  is  always  to  test  the  supposed  voice  of  the 
Spirit  to  his  soul  by  comparing  these  utterances 
carefully  with  the  written  word. 

And  yet,  in  spite  of  this  admirably  sane  theory  of 
the  Scriptures  and  of  the  ofifice  of  the  Spirit,  groups 
among  the  Anabaptists  fell  into  grievous  errors, 
which  were  most  unfortunate  in  their  results.  For 
one  thing,  they  greatly  weakened  the  party  by  the 
divisions  and  the  controversies  that  naturally  en- 
sued ;  and  then  the  follies  and  excesses  into  which 
some  fell,  in  consequence  of  error  in  interpreting 
Scripture,  covered  the  whole  i)arty  with  opprobrium 


Anabaptists  and  the  Reformation     19 

and  gave  a  decent  pretext  for  persecuting  all  with 
unrelenting  fury,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out. 
Even  from  their  persecutors,  however,  we  may  fre- 
quently discover  that  there  was  no  real  ground  for 
so  severe  treatment — or,  rather,  that  the  real  ground 
of  these  persecutions  differed  from  the  grounds 
alleged.  The  real  offence  of  the  Anabaptists  was 
not  that  they  were  seditious,  turbulent,  fomenters 
of  social  revolution,  and  therefore  dangerous  sub- 
jects, potential  rebels  even  when  not  in  actual  re- 
bellion. That  was  true  of  a  few  among  them,  but 
nobody  ever  seriously  believed  this  of  the  majority. 
The  real  offence  of  the  Anabaptists  was  that  they 
were  Anabaptists — that  they  held  and  taught  just 
such  things  as  are  above  set  forth.  Their  doctrines 
were  too  Scriptural,  too  spiritual,  too  incompatible 
with  those  that  in  many  places  were  being  forced 
on  unwilling  people,  in  the  name  of  reform,  by 
irreligious  rulers  obviously  actuated  by  ambition 
and  greed.  Their  doctrines  were  too  often  eagerly 
received  by  the  common  people,  who  lacked  the 
learning  requisite  for  the  perversion  of  the  plain 
sense  of  Scripture,  and  found  their  Bibles  and  the 
Anabaptist  teachings  to  agree  wonderfully.     There 


20  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

was,  in  fact,  no  reconciling  these  teachings  with 
those  of  state  churches,  set  up,  as  they  often  were, 
by  unworthy  princes  and  ungodly  town  councils — 
churches  in  which  little  or  no  attempt  was  made  to 
discriminate  between  regenerate  and  unregenerate. 
These  were  reasons  enough — these  were  the  real 
reasons  —  why  governments  everywhere  tried  to 
harry  the  Anabaptists  out  of  their  lands. 

Time,  which  works  so  many  changes,  is  bringing 
about  the  vindication  of  these  greatly  wronged 
people.  It  is  now  known,  and  every  year  sees  the 
fact  more  generally  acknowledged,  that  they  were 
treated  with  a  cruelty  as  unjust,  unnecessary,  and 
unwise  as  it  was  brutal.  The  brutality  may  be 
excused  in  part  as  the  universal  sin  of  the  age. 
The  folly  and  injustice  are  not  so  easily  forgiven, 
since  many  of  those  in  places  of  influence  and 
power  sinned  against  light.  The  Anabaptists  ex- 
perienced the  fate  that  usually  befalls  any  man  who 
has  the  misfortune  to  be  out  of  joint  with  his  times. 
Not  all  their  teachings,  it  is  true,  have  won  their 
way  to  general  acceptance — some  of  them  may  never 
gain  such  a  victory — but  many  of  their  fundamental 
contentions  arc  commonplaces  of  Christian  thought 


Anabaptists  and  the  Reformation     21 

to-day,  and  their  ideal  of  the  total  separation  be- 
tween the  spiritual  and  the  temporal  is  inwrought 
into  the  texture  of  American  institutions.  The 
time  is  rapidly  approaching  when  the  Anabaptists 
will  be  as  abundantly  honoured  as,  in  the  past  four 
centuries,  they  have  been  unjustly  contemned. 

If  this  is  true  of  the  Anabaptists  as  a  whole, 
what  shall  be  said  of  their  leaders?  These  have  not 
escaped  the  general  fate  of  the  party.  They  were 
burned,  they  were  drowned,  they  were  beheaded, 
they  were  tortured,  they  were  beaten  with  rods ; 
while  they  lived  they  wandered  as  outcasts  from 
city  to  city,  or  dwelt  in  caves  of  the  earth ;  and 
after  they  had  sealed  their  testimony  to  the  truth 
with  their  blood,  men  whom  the  world  calls  great 
in  piety  and  good  works  often  conspired  to  cover 
their  names  with  undeserved  infamy.'  Not  a  few 
of  these  leaders  were  men  of  the  highest  culture, 
the  broadest  learnincf  of  their  times — scholars  not 


'  A  case  in  point  is  that  of  Ludwig  Hatzer,  beheaded  at  Constance 
in  1529.  The  Anabaptist  chroniclers  are  unanimous  in  saying  that 
he  "was  condemned  for  the  gospel,  and  witnessed  in  knightly 
fashion  for  the  truth  with  his  blood."  Nevertheless,  the  Archives 
of  Constance  say  that  he  was  condemned  for  bigamy,  which  he  had 
confessed.  Everything  in  his  life  and  writings  gives  the  lie  to  this 
record,  which  is  open  to  suspicion  from  the  fact  that  Anabaptism 


2  2  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

unworthy  of  a  place  beside  Erasmus  and  Melanch- 
thon,  preachers  whose  eloquence  was  not  inferior 
to  that  of  Luther  or  Zwingli.  It  was  their  misfor- 
tune to  be  on  the  losing  side  of  a  great  controversy, 
and  they  were  obliged  to  pay  for  their  allegiance  to 
truth  and  righteousness  not  only  life  and  fame,  but 
honour.  Their  very  names  are  known  only  to  a 
few  curious  scholars,  and  their  writings  —  if  any 
have  escaped  the  zeal  of  rival  persecutors,  Catholic 
and  Protestant — are  to  be  found  in  dusty  archives 
or  the  dark  corners  of  libraries  and  museums. 

It  is  with  the  hope  of  doing  something  to  rescue 
from  his  undeserved  oblivion  one  of  the  greatest 
Anabaptist  leaders  that  this  biography  has  been 
undertaken.  The  rage  of  persecution  did  not  suc- 
ceed, in  his  case,  in  destroying  what  his  busy  pen 
sent  forth,  and  we  have  fairly  adequate  materials 
for  a  biography.     Not  quite  every  line,  but  nearly 


was  not  then  a  capital  offence  in  Constance,  and  some  other  pretext 
must  be  found  to  put  him  to  death.  In  later  years  Ilatzer  was  ac- 
cused of  advocating  polygamy,  and  of  having  as  many  as  twenty-four 
wives !  We  find  no  contemporary  attestation  to  these  slanders 
where  we  should  most  expect  it  if  there  were  any  truth  in  them. 
For  example,  Capito's  letters  to  Zwingli  (Zwingli,  Op.,  vii.,  420, 
422,  455,  456,  etc.),  though  they  accuse  Ilatzer  of  many  things,  do 
not  mention  immorality.  P'iisslin  rejects  the  charge  altogether. 
Ncue  und  unpartheyische  Kirchen  und  Ketzerhistorie,  iii.,  269. 


DR.   JOHN    ECK. 

TRADITIONAL    PORTRAIT. 


Anabaptists  and  the  Reformation     23 

so,  of  his  printed  writings  has  survived,  and  the 
chief  events  in  his  career  are  otherwise  well  at- 
tested. Of  no  other  leader  of  the  Anabaptists  can 
so  much  be  said ;  biographies  of  the  greater  part  of 
them  must  for  ever  go  unwritten,  because  materials 
no  longer  exist  for  more  than  the  meagrest  of 
sketches.  There  has  been  no  attempt  in  these 
pages  at  idealising  Hiibmaier.  What  he  was  and 
what  he  did  will  be  found  plainly  set  forth,  and  as 
far  as  possible  in  his  own  words,  with  no  conceal- 
ment of  his  errors,  no  apology  for  his  faults.  His 
life  and  teachings,  his  character  and  fate,  will  speak 
for  themselves,  and  the  biographer  need  add  no- 
thing further. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   YEARS   OF   TREPARATION 
148I-1523 

/^^REAT  obscurity  envelops  the  early  life  of 
—  Hiibmaier.  Certain  record  remains  of  but 
one  fact  relating  to  his  origin  :  he  was  born  in  Fried- 
burg,  an  ancient  town  on  the  Ach,  some  five  miles 
east  of  the  city  of  Augsburg.  He  sometimes  called 
himself,  and  was  called  by  others,  an  Augsburger. 
More  frequently  he  was  known  in  his  earlier  years 
as  Friedburger  or  Pacimontanus;  later  he  is  usually 
called  by  his  surname  of  Hiibmaier.  The  year  of 
his  birth  can  only  be  conjectured ;  it  was  probably 
1480  or  1481. 

Of  his  family  wc  know  absolutely  nothing.  It 
was  evidently  of  peasant  origin,  as  is  witnessed  by 
its  meaning,  "the  farmer  on  the  hill."  '     From  the 


'  Hiibmaier  =:  HUbel  (provincial  for  Hugel)  meier. 
24 


[1481-1523]    The  Years  of  Preparation       25 

circumstance  that  his  parents  lived  in  the  town  of 
Friedburg  and  were  able  to  give  their  son  more 
than  the  ordinary  education  of  his  day,  it  might  be 
plausibly  conjectured  that  they  had  risen  to  the 
artisan  or  small-merchant  class.  Yet,  as  there  are 
not  a  few  instances  in  the  sixteenth  century  of  sons 
of  poor  peasants  obtaining  a  university  education, 
little  confidence  can  be  placed  in  any  such  infer- 
ence. That  the  family  was  of  no  importance  may 
be  more  certainly  inferred  from  the  fact  that  no 
record  of  it  remains,  and  that  no  trace  of  it  is  to  be 
found  to-day.  It  may  perhaps  be  still  further  in- 
ferred that,  as  Hiibmaier  never  visited  his  parents 
after  he  came  of  age,  and  never  refers  to  them  in 
his  writings,  they  had  died  during  the  years  of  his 
education.  In  his  case,  however,  silence  means 
nothing,  for  he  says  singularly  little  about  himself, 
only  in  two  or  three  instances,  hereafter  to  be 
cited,  referring  to  anything  in  his  past  life,  and 
then  for  apologetic  reasons. 

Everything  in  the  character  and  life  of  Hiibmaier 
goes  to  show  that  he  received  a  careful  religious 
training  in  his  tender  years.  From  the  first  he 
seems  to  have  been  inclined  to  piety  and  the  service 


26  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [usi- 

of  God,  and  \vc  shall  not  go  astray  if  \vc  attribute 
this  inclination  of  heart  to  the  influence  of  a  Chris- 
tian mother.  As  to  his  education,  it  was  no  doubt 
begun,  according  to  the  customs  of  the  time,  in 
some  local  school,  but  at  an  early  age  the  lad  was 
sent  to  the  Latin  school  of  Augsburg,  then  a  famous 
institution  for  the  training  of  boys.  Of  the  Augs- 
burg of  Hubmaier's  days  there  remain  few  traces 
except  the  cathedral,  parts  of  which  are  of  the 
tenth  century.  The  most  diligent  search  has  failed 
to  discover  even  a  tradition  as  to  the  location  of  the 
school  that  he  attended.  That  he  made  unusual 
progress  in  his  studies  and  was  already  singled  out 
as  a  boy  of  exceptional  promise,  is  all  that  we  now 
know  of  this  part  of  his  career. 

It  is  clear,  however,  cither  that  he  began  his 
studies  in  preparation  for  the  university  somewhat 
later  than  was  customary,  or  that  they  were  fre- 
quently interrupted  by  poverty  or  illness.  The 
former  is  the  more  probable,  for  there  was  little 
difficulty  of  a  financial  sort  in  the  way  of  a  bright 
boy's  education  in  those  days.  Now  there  are 
scholarships  and  funds  of  various  kinds  to  smooth 
the  way  of  such;  then,  the  Church  was  ever  on  the 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  INGOLSTADT,  AS  IT  IS  TO-DAY. 


/-  - 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  27 

lookout  for  promising  youths  to  enter  the  ranks  of 
the  priesthood  or  one  of  the  celebrated  orders.  But 
Hiibmaier  was  past  twenty  years  of  age  before  he 
was  ready  to  enter  the  university,  and  past  thirty 
before  he  took  his  baccalaureate  degree,  as  we 
should  say.  Luther  and  Eck,  some  years  his 
juniors,  had  already  been  lecturing  for  several  years 
in  their  respective  universities,  while  Hiibmaier  was 
still  an  undergraduate. 

The  first  written  record  that  we  have  of  Hiibmaier 
is  his  matriculation  at  the  University  of  Freiburg, 
under  date  of  May  i,  1503.  In  the  matriculation 
book  he  is  described  as  "Baldesar  Hiebmayr  de 
Augusta"  i.  e.,  from  Augsburg.  This  university, 
established  in  1456,  was  but  Httle  older  and  hardly 
more  famous  than  the  much  nearer  University  of 
Ingolstadt,  and  why  the  more  distant  institution 
should  have  been  sought  is  not  easily  conjectured. 
Here  the  usual  studies  of  the  period  were  pursued 
with  ardour  and  success,  until  the  taking  of  his 
Master's  degree,  probably  in  151 1.  On  the  occa- ^;^ 
sion  of  his  taking  a  later  degree  an  oration  was 
delivered,  according  to  the  academic  custom  of 
those  days,  by  his  master.  Dr.  Eck,  which  gives  us 


28  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1481- 

practically  all  that  is  known  concerning  this  part  of 
his  life: 

"  Well  grounded  in  the  rudiments  of  grammar  and  the 
easier  subjects  taught,  he  came  to  the  Freiburg  high 
school  and  became  a  student  there.  It  is  wonderful  to 
say  with  what  circumspection  and  eagerness  he  acquired 
the  doctrines  of  philosophy,  how  he  hung  upon  the  lips 
of  his  teacher  and  zealously  wrote  down  the  lectures — a 
diligent  reader,  an  unwearied  hearer  and  an  industrious 
repetitor '  of  other  hearers.  So  he  obtained  the  Master's 
degree  with  the  greatest  honour.  Many  had  advised  him 
to  pursue  the  study  of  medicine;  to  whom  he  answered: 
he  would  rather  seek  theology  as  the  holiest  mistress, 
and  say  with  the  prophet,  I  have  long  since  chosen  her, 
and  will  prepare  her  a  dwelling  in  the  sanctuary  of  my 
mind.*  And  although  the  narrow  means  of  his  father's 
house  ^  was  so  embarrassing  to  him  that  he  had  to  leave 


'  It  was  the  custom  in  Hubmaier's  day  for  bright  students  to  give 
private  lectures  to  their  fellows,  repeating  the  substance  of  what  the 
professor  had  taught.  Such  a  course  was  called  a  Hepetorium,  and 
the  lecturer  was  a  Repetitor.  The  custom  has  its  analogue  in  the 
"  quiz  "  classes  in  the  medical  schools  of  the  present  day.  At  the 
present  time  a  Repetitor  in  a  German  university  corresponds  pretty 
nearly  to  a  tutor  in  an  American  college. 

'-'  Hoschek  gives  (p.  i2o)  a  somewhat  different  version  of  Hilb- 
maier's  praise  of  theology  :  "  Her  alone  have  I  chosen,  her  before 
all  others  have  I  selected,  and  for  her  will  I  prepare  a  cell  in  my 
heart."  But  for  the  original  see  Wiedemann,  Dr.  Johann  Eck,  Re- 
gensburg,  1865,  p.  451. 

'  This  reference  to  his  father's  poverty  might  be  taken  in  itself  to 
negative  the  above-mentioned  conjecture  regarding  Hiibmaier's  fam- 
ily, but  some  sudden  reverse  might  have  overtaken  a  man  hitherto 
prosperous. 


A    LECTURE-ROOM  (POSSIBLY   HUBMAIER'S)  IN  THE    OLD  UNIVERSITY 
OF  INQOLSTADT. 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  29 

the  high  school  for  a  long  time,  and,  to  protect  himself 
from  want,  became  a  school-teacher  in  Schaffhausen,  yet 
he  returned  at  the  first  favourable  opportunity  to  his  ac- 
customed studies  and  under  my  guidance.  What  pro- 
gress he  then  made,  his  learned  lectures,  his  sermons 
before  the  people,  and  his  scholastic  exercises  give  a 
sufficient  testimony." 

This  eulogy  was  returned  with  interest  three 
years  later,  when  Eck  published  the  text  of  a  dis- 
putation held  by  him  at  Bologna,  for  which  occasion 
Hubmaier,  like  Silas  Wegg,  "dropped  into  poetry"  : 

"  O  felix  nimium  felix  Germania,  quae  nunc 

Doctiloquos  gignis  multisciosque  viros. 
Cleopatream  priscus  satis  extulit  umbram 

Objicient  doctum  saecula  nostra  virum. 
Eckius  is  meus  est  Germano  sydere  natus 

Illo  nimirum  Theutona  terra  nitet. 
Theologus  rarus,  juris  Sophiseque  peritus 

Sccpius  in  populum  semina  sacra  serit. 
Nodosam  Logicen  (si  mavis)  Rhetoris  arma 

Quseque  mathematicus,  Astronomusque  docent 
Quicquid  habet  Rhetor,  Historia,  culta  poesis 

Dispeream  si  non  singula  solus  habet.' 

These  verses,  if  they  contain  words  that  would 
have  made  Quintilian  stare  and  gasp,  have  at  least 

^  Wiedemann,  Dr.  yohann  Eck,  pp.  462,  463,  The  lines  may  be 
rather  freely  englished  thus  :  "  O  happy,  too  happy  Germany,  that 
now  producest  men  of  so  great  eloquence  and  learning  !  Antiquity 
brought  forth  beauty  as  her  choicest  product,  our  age  presents  the 


30  Balthasar  Iliibmaicr  [1481- 

the  merit  of  brevity,  and  are  not  much  worse  than 
the  specimens  that  Eck's  biographer  gives  us  from 
the  most  famous  scholars  of  that  age. 

From  another  source  we  learn  more  about  the 
Schaffhauscn  episode  of  which  Eck  speaks :  the 
official  records  of  the  city  inform  us  that  Baltisar 
Hubmer  of  Augsburg  was  a  temporary  resident  of 
the  town  in  1507,  and  had  taken  the  prescribed 
oath  of  obedience  to  the  laws.'  Beyond  this,  little 
or  nothing  can  be  added  to  the  words  of  Eck,  Of 
»  Hiibmaier's  university  career  only  one  other  detail 
can  be  supplied,  and  that  is  told  us  by  himself,  in 
one  of  his  rare  autobiographic  passages.  In  his  last 
known  writing,  he  says  that  twenty  years  before, 
he  held  a  disputation  at  Freiburg  on  the  question 
whether  it  is  allowable  to  increase  the  number  of 
feast  days,  himself  taking  the  negative.  His  ene- 
mies accused  him  in  Zurich,  in  1526,  of  stealing 
gowns  while  he  was  at  Freiburg;  it  is  possible  there 


scholar.  My  Eck,  sprung  from  the  stars,  is  surely  the  bright  orna- 
ment of  this  German  land.  A  rare  theologian,  skilled  in  law  and 
wisdom,  he  often  sows  the  good  seed  among  the  people.  A  knotty 
logician,  a  master  of  sentences,  whatever  mathematician  or  astrono- 
mer teaches,  all  that  orator,  historian,  or  poet  knows — I  '11  be  hanged 
if  this  single  man  does  not  know  it  all  !  " 
'  Loserth,  p.  15,  note  4. 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  31 

was  some  escapade  on  which  such  a  construction 
could  be  placed  by  an  enemy,  for  students  then 
were  full  of  their  pranks  as  now,  but  the  high  repute 
that  he  always  maintained  makes  it  certain  that  there 
could  have  been  nothing  more  than  this  in  the  charge. 
The  most  important  fact  regarding  his  course  at 
Freiburg  is  that  it  brought  Hiibmaier  under  the  in- 
fluence of  John  Mayer,  better  known  as  Eck,  a  sur- 
name assumed  because  he  was  born  in  the  Swabian 
town  of  that  name.  Though  five  or  six  years  the 
junior  of  his  pupil,  Eck  was  farther  advanced,  hav- 
ing already  gained  fame  for  his  scholastic  and 
patristic  learning,  and  still  more  for  his  readiness  and 
skill  in  dialectics.  He  was,  in  addition,  the  more 
strenuous  and  masterful  spirit ;  and  had  the  two 
men  remained  in  close  connection  we  might  have 
seen  on  the  Catholic  side  during  the  Reformation 
struggle  a  pair  closely  approximating  the  character- 
istics and  influence  of  Luther  and  Melanchthon  on 
the  Protestant  side.  Eck  was  at  this  time  principal 
of  Peacock  Hall,'  one  of  the  students'  societies  or 


'  Hoschek  says  (i.,  120)  that,  by  the  influence  of  Eck,  Hiibmaier 
himself  was  elected  superintendent  of  Peacock  Hall,  but  this  appears 
to  be  an  error.      Cf.  Loserth,  p.  16. 


32  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1481- 

Bnrscn,  and  it  is  morally  certain  that  Hiibmaier 
was  a  member  of  this  body.  It  was  the  general 
custom  of  the  universities  of  that  day  to  give  much 
attention  to  disputation,  as  a  means  of  fixing  ac- 
quirements in  memory  and  making  one's  entire 
mental  resources  instantly  responsive  to  any  de- 
mand. So  great  a  master  of  dialectics,  so  eager  a 
disputant  as  Eck  proved  himself  to  be  during  his 
whole  life,  would  certainly  magnify  this  part  of  his 
work  as  a  teacher.  From  many  sources  we  learn 
that  his  students  were  constantly  exercised  in  de- 
bating disputed  questions  in  theology,  and  such  ex- 
^  ercises  were  more  than  grateful  to  Hiibmaier.  Here 
'  he  imbibed  that  ardent  love  of  religious  controversy 
which  all  his  life  was  quite  as  characteristic  of  him 
as  love  of  the  truth.  All  his  writings  show  that  he 
revelled  in  discussion  for  its  own  sake,  though  also 
without  doubt  as  a  means  of  eliciting  truth. 

It  was  in  151 1,  apparently,  that  Hiibmaier  re- 
ceived the  master's  degree,  of  which  Eck  makes 
mention  in  the  words  already  quoted.  According 
to  the  customs  of  the  time,  this  degree  in  itself 
gave  him  the  right  to  teach,  but  he  seems  in  ad- 
dition  to   have  received  a  formal  rccoijnition  as  a 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  .33 

member  of  the  Freiburg  faculty.  Here  he  might 
have  remained  but  for  a  quarrel  that  broke  out  be- 
tween the  university  and  Eck  concerning  the  latter's 
salary.  The  pupil  espoused  his  teacher's  quarrel 
with  more  zeal  than  discretion,  and  the  result  was 
that  both  soon  left  the  university.  Eck  received  an 
appointment  in  the  University  of  Ingolstadt,  and 
his  influence  was  sufficient  to  secure  a  position  also 
for  his  devoted  pupil  and  friend. 

The  University  of  Ingolstadt  had  been  established 
in  1472  by  Duke  Lewis  the  Rich,  and  was  already  a 
famous  institution.  It  became  still  more  celebrated 
through  Eck's  connection  with  it,  and  by  the  end 
of  the  sixteenth  century  is  said  to  have  had  four 
thousand  students.  The  town  is  a  small  one,  and 
though  now  one  of  the  great  fortresses  of  the  south- 
ern frontier  of  the  German  Empire,  is  a  place  of 
slight  commercial  importance,  and  its  population  of 
about  twenty  thousand  is  little  if  any  in  excess  of 
its  mediaeval  size.  Being  thus  outstripped  in  growth 
by  other  towns,  it  became  less  desirable  as  an  edu- 
cational centre,  and  since  1826  the  university  has 
been  merged  in  that  of  Munich. 

The  original  university  building,  however,  is  still 
3 


34  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1481- 

standing,  and  the  exterior  has  evidently  suffered 
little  alteration.  It  is  in  a  quiet  part  of  the  town, 
a  few  squares  distant  from  the  chief  market-place, 
where  the  old-fashioned  horse-car  deposits  the 
visitor  whom  it  has  brought  from  the  railway  sta- 
tion, two  miles  away.  The  interior  of  the  building 
is  more  modern  than  the  outside,  but  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  rooms  is  unchanged,  and  one  easily  be- 
lieves the  assurance  that  it  has  undergone  only  such 
refitting  as  was  necessary  to  adapt  it  for  its  present 
purpose,  a  gymnasium  or  high  school  for  boys.  The 
Aula,  where  disputations  were  once  held  and  degrees 
conferred,  is  now  a  museum  and  library ;  and  in  rooms 
where  once  echoed  lectures  and  discussions  on  the- 
ology are  now  chemical  and  physical  laboratories. 
The  name  of  Eck  is  still  remembered  and  honoured 
by  the  teachers,  but  that  of  Hiibmaier  is  forgotten, 
and  the  mention  of  it  is  greeted  with  a  stare. 

On  his  first  coming  to  Ingolstadt,  Hiibmaier  was 
entitled,  by  virtue  of  his  master's  degree,  to  lecture 
only  on  philosophy,  but  he  was  speedily  made  a 
Doctor  in  Theology.  On  September  29,  15 12,  the 
I  degree  was  conferred,  Dr.  Eck  presiding  and  deliver- 
ing an  oration  Dc  Saccrrinia  Thcologia  (Concerning 


f*f 


MEMORIAL  TABLET  TO   DR.  JOHN   ECK,  IN  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  VIRGIN, 
INQOLSTADT. 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  35 

Most  Holy  Theology)  which  contains  the  already 
cited  passage  on  the  candidate's  scholastic  life.  At 
about  this  time  Hiibmaier  was  also  made  university 
preacher  and  chaplain  of  the  Church  of  the  Virgin. 
This,  the  most  interesting  of  the  churches  now 
found  in  Ingolstadt,  had  but  recently  been  com- 
pleted in  his  day.  It  is  a  fine  old  Gothic  edifice, 
with  two  tall  square  towers ;  and  the  interior,  apart 
from  its  interest  as  the  place  where  Hiibmaier 
preached,  attracts  those  who  wish  to  see  the  last 
resting-place  of  Eck.  He  died  in  Ingolstadt  in 
1543,  and  his  body  lies  beneath  a  huge  slab  in  a 
little  chapel  of  the  north  aisle,  above  it  a  bronze 
tablet  bearing  his  portrait  and  a  suitable  Latin  in- 
scription. The  Church  of  the  Virgin  was  the  uni- 
versity church  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  receiv- 
ing of  this  important  appointment  warrants  at  least 
two  inferences:  that  Hiibmaier  had  been  ordained 
to  the  priesthood  some  time  before,  and  that  he  had 
already  won  some  reputation  as  a  preacher.  The 
making  of  the  appointment  would  otherwise  be  in- 
comprehensible. Not  even  the  influence  of  Eck 
would  have  induced  the  authorities  to  bestow  a  post 
so  important  upon  a  wholly  untried  man. 


36  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1481- 

Hiibmaier's  various  talents  enabled  him  speedily 
to  take  a  leading  position  at  Ingolstadt,  and  he  ap- 
proved himself  on  trial  as  not  only  an  eloquent 
lecturer  and  preacher,  but  a  good  man  of  affairs. 
At  Easter,  15 15,  he  was  made  vice-rector  of  the  uni- 
versity. The  rector  at  that  time  was  the  Margrave 
Friedrich  von  Brandenburg,  but  the  rectorship  of 
a  nobleman  must  have  been  merely  nominal  and 
ornamental,  and  the  real  manager  of  the  affairs  of 
the  university  was  Hubmaier.  We  have  only  one 
recorded  incident  of  his  administration  of  this  office : 
an  annalist  of  the  city  narrates  that  on  one  occasion 
he  was  fined  ten  ducats  and  confined  to  his  house 
three  days  for  releasing  a  student  who  had  been 
imprisoned  for  assaulting  a  woman. 

The  growing  fame  of  Hubmaier  as  a  pulpit  orator 
secured  for  him  a  call  to  Regensburg  as  chief 
preacher  in  the  cathedral.  The  Danube  with  its 
tributaries  was  the  great  commercial  highway  of 
Southern  Germany  before  railways  were  known ; 
and  Regensburg,  or  Ratisbon,  situated  at  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Danube  and  Regen,  was  then  as  now 
a  much  more  important  town  than  Ingolstadt.  The 
cathedral,  which  was  then   nearing  completion,  is 


1 523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  37 

surpassed  in  spaciousness  and  beauty  only  by  that 
of  Strassburg  among  the  cities  of  that  region.  We 
have  no  information  as  to  the  motives  that  induced 
Hiibmaier  to  accept  this  call;  he  was  doubtless  am- 
bitious, and  the  new  position  seemed  to  him  one  of 
greater  influence,  and  a  quicker  road  to  promotion, 
than  a  chair  of  theology.  Possibly  he  had  become 
conscious  that  his  vocation  was  that  of  preacher  and 
agitator  rather  than  teacher.  The  decision  to  leave 
Ingolstadt  was,  at  any  rate,  the  turning-point  in  his 
life.  Hitherto  he  had  been  under  the  influence, 
not  to  say  control,  of  a  stronger  nature  than  his 
own;  henceforth  he  becomes  independent,  free  to 
develop  according  to  the  laws  of  his  own  nature. 
One  other  thing  is  also  clear:  Ingolstadt  parted 
with  him  unwillingly.  In  later  years,  when  he  had 
to  defend  himself  against  many  aspersions,  the  uni- 
versity and  town  council  gave  him  written  testi- 
monial of  his  innocence.  During  his  residence 
there  he  had  made  many  warm  friends,  some  in- 
fluential,— among  them  the  Count  Palatine  John. 
He  left  Ingolstadt  January  25,  15 16,  after  labouring 
there  three  years  and  five  months. 

On  his  arrival  at  Regensburg  he  found  an  anti- 


38  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1481- 

Jewish  movement  in  progress  among  the  citizens, 
(  and  he  threw  himself  into  the  contest  with  ardour. 
In  fact,  he  soon  became  the  leader,  and  advocated 
his  cause  in  the  pulpit,  in  the  street,  in  the  market- 
place, before  the  magistrates.  There  had  been  a 
strong  anti-Jewish  feeling  in  Regensburg  for  more 
than  a  generation,  due  in  large  part  to  the  peculiar 
position  occupied  by  the  Jews  in  the  city.  They 
lived  in  one  of  the  oldest  parts  of  the  town,  sur- 
rounded by  a  wall,  and  enjoyed  many  special  privi- 
leges. They  were  lodged  in  what  we  should  now 
call  tenement-houses, — high,  narrow  buildings, — be- 
neath which  were  cellars  and  secret  passages  where 
they  could  hide  from  the  officers  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious courts.  At  times,  when  the  persecution  was 
severe,  they  dared  not  go  outside  their  own  region, 
and  then  opened  only  a  little  gate  through  which 
could  be  passed  the  necessaries  of  life  and  the 
pledges  of  Christians  who  wished  loans.  Some- 
times at  Easter  even  this  loophole  was  closed  for  a 
week  or  more. 

The  Jewish  quarter  of  Regensburg  disappeared 
long  ago  so  completely  that  no  trace  of  it  is  now 
to  be  found ;  but  the  city  of  Augsburg  contains  a 


THE  CATHEDRAL,  REGENSBURQ. 

HERE  HUBMAIER  WAS  CHIEF  PREACHER,   1616-1520 


IS23]        The  Years  of  Preparation  39 

quarter  that  helps  the  modern  traveller  comprehend 
what  it  must  have  been.  In  Augsburg  one  of  the 
most  interesting  sights  is  the  "Fuggerei,"  a  section 
of  the  town  endowed  in  15 19  by  John  Jacob  Fugger, 
the  Rothschild  of  the  sixteenth  century,  to  furnish 
free  homes  for  the  poor.  The  Fuggerei  is  a  little 
walled  city  within  the  city,  the  gates  of  which  are 
shut  at  night;  and  in  this  quarter  are  fifty-three 
houses,  of  two  and  three  stories  each,  still  tenanted 
at  a  merely  nominal  rent  by  poor  Roman  Catholic 
citizens  of  Augsburg — for  the  Fuggers  were  good 
Catholics,  and  the  trust  has  been  faithfully  adminis- 
tered, as  the  founder  intended  it  should  be.  But 
the  Fuggerei  is  a  model  city  quarter — clean,  quiet, 
and  orderly,  while  the  Jewish  quarter  of  Regens- 
burg,  by  all  accounts,  was  dirty,  noisy,  and 
unsanitary. 

Although  the  Regensburg  Jews  were  hard  pressed 
by  taxes  and  exactions  of  every  sort,  by  the  Em- 
peror, the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese,  the  city, — and  the  city  tax  was  higher  for 
the  Jews  than  for  the  burghers,  —  nevertheless, 
through  their  enterprise  and  system  they  had  man- 
aged to  get  into  their  hands  the  principal  part  of  the 


40  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1481- 

city's  business,  and  the  whole  town  and  even  the 
region  about  was  in  their  debt.  They  had  mort- 
gages on  many  of  the  surrounding  estates  in  their 
coffers.  It  was  charged,  probably  with  truth,  that 
they  were  receivers  of  stolen  goods,  and  the  plate  on 
their  boards  was  often  made  of  vessels  taken  from 
the  altars  of  Christian  churches.  But  their  chief 
crime,  no  doubt,  was  that  they  were  too  rich.  The 
people  saw  only  too  clearly  that,  while  their  affairs 
went  from  worse  to  worst,  while  the  public  finances 
became  more  and  more  embarrassed,  while  the  trade 
and  manufactures  of  the  city  more  and  more  de- 
clined, the  Jews  continued  to  prosper.  What  was 
more  natural  than  that  they  should  lay  the  blame 
for  all  this  on  the  Jews?  The  priests,  therefore, 
found  willing  cars  to  listen  to  their  denunciation  of 
the  usury  of  this  people,  and  the  citizens  flocked  to 
hear  such  sermons. 

The  Regensburg  Jews  were  under  the  special  pro- 
tection of  the  House  of  Austria,  and  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Reichstag  at  Cologne  in  15 12  they  appealed 
for  protection  against  the  constantly  increasing  per- 
secutions. It  was  the  Imperial  policy  to  hold  this 
movement  in  check,  and  accordingly  the  fanaticism 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  41 

that  Hiibmaier  and  others  had  aroused  could  not 
fail  in  time  to  bring  the  city  into  sharp  collision 
with  the  Imperial  Government.  This  actually  hap- 
pened in  1 5 17.  The  first  appeal  of  the  Jews  to  the 
law  was  unavailing.  Palgrave  John,  the  adminis- 
trator of  the  bishopric,  threatened  with  excommuni- 
cation any  who  should  compel  a  Christian  to  pay 
usurious  interest  to  a  Jew.  Papal  confirmation  of 
this  decision  was  obtained,  and  Hiibmaier  preached 
from  the  pulpit:  "We  have  brought  a  bull  from 
Rome,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  put  under  the  bann 
every  one  who  helps  a  Jew  to  his  usurious  interest." 
The  Jews  on  their  part  obtained  an  Imperial  man- 
date commanding  the  people  of  Regensburg  to 
molest  these  people  no  further,  and  the  next  year, 
when  the  Reichstag  met  at  Augsburg,  the  Jewish 
question  was  thoroughly  discussed  in  a  secret 
session. 

Hiibmaier  was  sent  to  Augsburg  to  defend  the 
clergy,  and  the  city  also  had  its  representative  there. 
The  presence  of  this  hated  preacher  against  their 
race  roused  the  Jews  to  special  efforts,  and  they  did 
everything  in  their  power  to  secure  his  expulsion. 
So  well  did  they  use  their  influence  and  money  that 


42  Balthasar  Hlibmaier  [mSi- 

an  Imperial  messenger  was  sent  to  Rcgensburg,  de- 
manding Hiibmaier's  recall.  The  messenger  more- 
over bore  a  mandate  that  the  administrator  should 
not  summon  Jews  before  his  court  again;  that  the 
priests  should  cease  preaching  against  them ;  and 
declared  the  papal  bull,  having  been  issued  with- 
out the  Emperor's  consent,  to  be  null  and  void. 
The  council  attempted  to  temporise,  saying  that 
Hubmaier  was  not  at  Augsburg  as  a  representative 
of  the  city,  but  as  a  cleric,  and  therefore  not  under 
their  jurisdiction.  The  Imperial  messenger  refused 
to  accept  this  disclaimer;  he  replied  that  the  council 
had  the  keys  of  the  city,  and  if  Hubmaier  persisted 
in  remaining  at  Augsburg,  against  their  command, 
they  could  lock  the  gates  against  him.  Reluctantly, 
we  may  presume,  the  city  did  as  required. 
t  The  decision  of  the  Reichstag  was  in  favour  of 
the  Jews;  a  special  court  and  judge  were  appointed 
to  try  their  cases.  Hubmaier  in  the  meantime  ap- 
pears to  have  contumaciously  remained  at  Augs- 
burg, and  he  had  some  difficulty  in  obtaining 
permission  to  return.  Only  the  intercession  of 
powerful  friends,  and  a  pledge  on  his  part  that  he 
would  henceforth  show  greater  moderation,  made 


INTERIOR  OF  THE   REGENSBURQ   CATHEDRAL. 

THE  TOMB  IN  THE  NAVE  IS  IN   MEMORY  OF  BISHOP  PHILIP  WILLIAM,  DUKE  OF  BAVARIA,  AND 
*      V^AS  ERECTED    IN  1598. 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  43 

his  peace  with  the  Emperor  and  enabled  him  to  re- 
turn. It  throws  some  light  on  his  character  at  this 
time  that  he  promised  the  city  council  on  his  arrival 
that  he  would  do  just  the  contrary,  that  he  would 
not  slacken  his  efforts  against  the  Jews ;  while,  as 
for  his  pledge  to  the  Emperor,  he  said,  the  Church 
would  hold  him  guiltless,  and  would  defend  him ! 
It  is  true  that  this  was  the  common  morality  of 
ecclesiastics  in  his  day,  though  a  less  frank  avowal 
of  perfidy  was  usual. 

It  is  difficult,  from  the  facts  we  have  at  hand,  to 
infer  the  motives  that  led  Hiibmaier  to  take  so 
active  and  so  discreditable  a  part  in  this  agitation. 
It  is  extremely  probable  that  he  honestly  shared  the 
prejudices  of  his  time  against  the  Jews,  and  even 
believed  that  persecution  of  them  was  a  mark  of  a 
good  Christian.  Even  after  he  had  become  more 
enlightened  as  to  the  true  spirit  of  the  gospel,  he 
expressed  no  regret  for  his  course,  but  rather  gives 
it  tacit  approval,  though  he  by  no  means  tells  the 
whole  story  of  his  misdeeds.  In  1526  he  makes 
this  allusion  to  the  matter:  "When  I  was  preacher 
in  Regensburg,  I  saw  the  great  oppression  that  the 
population    suffered    from    the    Jews;    I    saw   that 


44  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1481- 

ccclesiastical  and  secular  statutes  gave  law  and 
sentence  against  this.  Then  I  said  to  the  people 
from  the  pulpit,  that  they  ought  not  to  suffer  in 
this  wise  for  the  future.  But  nobody  repented, 
and  all  remained  as  before. ' '  ' 

The  agitation  against  the  Jews  in  Regensburg 
dragged  until  after  the  death  of  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian. In  the  spring  of  15 19  they  were  driven 
out,  and  their  synagogue  was  turned  into  a  Chris- 
tian chapel,  dedicated  "to  the  beauteous  Mary" 
{ziir  Schbncn  Maria).  Shortly  after,  miracles  were 
said  to  be  wrought  at  this  shrine,  great  excitement 
arose,  people  began  to  make  pilgrimages  to  this 
altar,  and  gifts  poured  in.  It  was  decided  to  build 
a  church,  and  the  corner-stone  was  laid  September 
9th.  On  this,  besides  the  name  of  the  administrator 
and  suffragan-bishop,  appeared  the  name  of  Hiib- 
maier,  the  first  chaplain  of  the  "beauteous  Mary." 
On  September  i6th  he  gave  to  the  council  a  list 
of  fifty-four  testimonies  to  the  miracles  wrought  at 
this  shrine.  The  fame  of  these  rapidly  extended 
through    all   the    neighbouring    district,    and    even 


'  From  his  examination  while  in  prison  at  Zurich,   Egli,  Acteii- 
sammluiig  zur  Geschichte  der  Ziirc/ier  Reformation,  S.  432. 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  45 

farther,  throughout  Austria,  Bohemia,  and  Moravia, 
and  from  everywhere  came  the  throngs  of  pilgrims. 
Grave  mischiefs  and  abuses  accompanied  these  pil- 
grimages ;  all  the  population  seemed  to  be  affected. 
When  they  went  through  a  town  by  night  women 
crowded  to  see  them,  often  in  their  nightclothes; 
by  day  men  left  their  business  and  followed  as  if 
they,  too,  would  go  on  pilgrimage,  some  with  a  hay- 
fork in  their  hands,  others  with  a  scythe.  The 
more  sensible  thought  the  people  had  all  gone  crazy. 
Impostors  appeared,  and  at  length  the  Regensburg 
council  found  itself  compelled  to  adopt  some  meas- 
ures of  repression,  ot  at  least  of  control. 

These  pilgrimages  aroused  much  attention  and 
discussion  in  the  whole  Empire.  As  to  Hiibmaier's 
exact  part  in  them  there  is  almost  nothing  to  war- 
rant an  inference.  One  of  his  biographers'  has 
accused  him  of  fomenting  the  fanaticism,  and  says 
that  good  Catholics  blamed  him  for  his  excessive 
zeal.  Another^  says  that  he  preached  against  the 
fanaticism  and  did  what  he  could  to  moderate  it. 
Neither  seems  to  have  any  grounds  for  so  positive 
assertion;    all  that   is    certain    is  that    Hiibmaier's 

>  Loserth,  p.  25.  *  Hoschek,  i.,  123. 


46  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1481- 

attitudc,  so  far  as  known,  was  favourable  to  the  pil- 
grimages, since  he  professed  a  complete  faith  in  the 
miracles,  and  has  left  no  record  of  his  disapproval. 

In  the  year  1542,  when  the  Reformation  had  ex- 
tended to  Bavaria,  the  chapel  of  the  "beauteous 
Mary"  became  a  Lutheran  church.  The  statues, 
pictures,  and  relics  that  had  been  accumulated  were 
removed  and  for  the  most  part  destroyed.  The 
chapel  was  enlarged,  and  the  new  edifice  became 
known  as  the  Ncupfarrkirchc,  which  name  it  still 
bears."  A  few  of  the  relics  and  pictures  have  been 
preserved,  and  among  these  the  curious  visitor  may 
still  see  an  old  and  much-dim'med  oil  painting,  that 
shows  the  original  chapel,  with  its  altar  and  relics, 
and  a  crowd  of  adoring  pilgrims  kneeling  before  it. 

The  authorities  of  the  city  were  not  the  only  ones 
aroused  to  action   by   these  pilgrimages.     Regens- 


'  The  photograph  from  which  the  illustration  of  the  N^eupfarr- 
kirche  is  made  shows  from  the  east  side  the  church  as  it  now  exists. 
This  end  of  the  church,  with  its  apse,  is  comparatively  new  ;  the 
original  chapel  is  the  western  part,  from  the  line  of  the  two  towers, 
which  are  little  altered.  A  transverse  aisle  separates  the  new  por- 
tion of  the  interior  from  the  old,  and  a  gallery  has  been  built  in 
recent  times  within  the  latter.  It  would  hardly  be  possible  for  any 
building  to  undergo  a  greater  transformation  than  this  chapel  of  the 
"beauteous  Mary"  shows — only  the  western  walls  and  towers  re- 
main in  substantially  the  former  condition. 


THE  MODERN    NEUPFARRKIRCHE,   REQENSBURQ. 
THE  FARTHER  PART,  WITH  THE  TOWERS,  IS  PART  OF  HUBMAIER'S  CHAPEL  ZUR  SCHONEN  MARIA. 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  47 

burg  was  the  home  of  one  of  the  largest,  richest, 
and  most  famous  Dominican  monasteries  in  Europe. 
It  had  been  made  famous  by  the  lectures  of  Albertus 
Magnus,  next  to  Thomas  Aquinas  the  greatest  of 
the  mediaeval  scholastics.  Though  not  formally  a 
university,  this  had  always  been  a  celebrated  school, 
and  was  still  an  important  seat  of  learning.  There 
were  also  two  Benedictine  abbeys:  one  originally 
founded  by  followers  of  Columban,  and  hence  still 
known  as  the  ScJiottenkircJic;  the  other,  St.  Em- 
meram,  founded  in  the  seventh  century,  was  also 
one  of  the  oldest  monastic  establishments  in  Ger- 
many. These  orders  had  for  three  centuries  been 
the  dominant  religious  force  in  Regensburg,  and 
had  for  a  still  longer  period  been  accustomed  to 
absorb  all  the  surplus  wealth  of  the  faithful.  It  was 
not  to  be  reckoned  that  they  would  submit  without  f 
a  struggle  to  this  sudden  and  startlingly  successful 
rivalry  of  a  new  shrine  and  an  upstart  preacher  be- 
longing to  none  of  the  orders. 

The  great  income  of  the  chapel  through  the  gifts 
of  the  pilgrims  quickly  roused  the  jealousy  of  the 
orders,  especially  of  the  Dominicans,  and  they 
began  to  attack  the  whole  affair  in  their  sermons. 


48  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [148 1- 

I'Vom  the  same  cause,  there  began  a  strife  in  1520 
between  the  chapter  of  the  cathedral  and  the  city 
council  over  the  patronage,  which  the  city  claimed, 
and  its  claim  was  confirmed  by  the  court  attorney 
of  Niirnberg.  Hubmaier  undertook  to  play  the 
part  of  mediator,  and  set  fortli  in  behalf  of  the 
chapter  that  before  there  was  any  thought  of  build- 
ing the  great  church,  offering-boxes  had  been  placed 
under  the  pulpit  in  the  cathedral  and  in  the  country 
churches,  and  liberal  gifts  for  the  building  had  been 
thus  collected.  It  was  evident  therefore,  that  the 
new  chapel  had  been  erected  not  from  the  resources 
of  the  city,  but  from  alms,  and,  this  being  the  case, 
the  council  had  no  legal  title  to  the  patronage.  In 
spite  of  the  general  esteem  in  which  he  was  held 
among  the  citizens,  this  attempt  at  mediation  was  a 
failure.  In  consequence,  the  numerous  grudges 
that  were  entertained  against  him  among  the  clergy 
began  to  manifest  themselves.  He  and  his  chapel 
were  the  object  of  their  jealousy,  and  they  preached 
against  both  with  renewed  vigour. 

It  may  have  been  these  troubles  that  decided  the 
question  of  Hiibmaier's  longer  stay  in  Regensburg. 
There  is  no  <jfround  whatever  for  the  assertion  of 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  49 

his  biographer,  Hoschek,'  that  he  had  already  be- 
come infected  with  heresy,  and  left  in  order  that  he 
might  find  a  field  where  the  Reformation  was  more 
likely  to  succeed  than  in  Regensburg.  So  many 
circumstances  conspire  to  negative  this  hypothesis, 
that  it  may  be  confidently  pronounced  unworthy  of 
serious  consideration.  We  know,  both  from  his 
own  testimony  and  from  other  sources,  that  he  left 
Regensburg  with  the  esteem  of  its  citizens  and  the 
powerful  friends  that  he  had  made.  In  1526,  reply- 
ing to  the  charge  of  his  enemies  that  he  secretly  ran 
away  from  the  city,  he  said : 

"How  I  departed  from  Ingolstadt  and  Regensburg 
know  his  serene  highness,  prince  and  lord  John,  Count 
Palatine  and  administrator  at  Regensburg,  my  especially 
gracious  lord;  also  the  most  noble,  honourable  and  wise 
captain,  city  treasurer  and  council  of  that  city;  also  the 
university  and  the  honourable  council  at  Ingolstadt,  all 
of  whom  gave  me  letters  testifying  my  innocence  of  such 
invented  and  base  untruths.  Also  William  Wyeland, 
burgher  and  councilman  at  Regensburg,  took  me  and  my 
furniture  on  his  iron-boat,  and  at  midday  starting  from 
Regensburg  brought  me  to  Ulm.  I  was  also  exempted 
from  all  customs  and  tolls  by  reason  of  the  letters  of 
assistance  which  my  gracious  lord  at  Regensburg  gave 
me."  * 


'  Hoschek,  i.,  122. 

*  HUbmaier,  Ein  kurze  EntschnlJigung,  Nikolsburg,  1526.    Op.  13. 
4 


50  Balthasar  Hubmaicr  [1481- 

He  might  have  added  that  the  city  gave  him,  in 
grateful  recognition  of  his  distinguished  services,  a 
parting  gift  of  forty  gulden.  This  of  itself  is  suffi- 
cient proof  that  he  departed  with  no  odour  of  heresy 
or  misdeed  clinging  to  his  garments.  He  left  be- 
hind him  the  repute  of  being  an  unusually  faithful 
and  zealous  son  of  the  Church.  It  is  indeed  sur- 
prising that  neither  at  this  time,  nor  for  some  time 
later,  does  Hiibmaier  show  any  sympathy  with  the 
Reformation ;  not  even  do  his  words  or  acts  betray 
the  consciousness  that  any  such  movement  was  in 
progress.  The  final  persecution  of  the  Jews  in 
Regensburg  was  coincident  with  the  posting  of 
Luther's  theses,  and  the  miracles  and  pilgrimages 
happened  in  the  year  of  the  Leipzig  disputation. 
The  old  friendship  between  Eck  and  Hiibmaier 
showed  as  yet  no  signs  of  fracture,  and  one  would 
have  thought  this  would  have  been  sufficient  to  at- 
tract the  latter's  attention  to  a  controversy  in  which 
his  former  master  was  taking  so  prominent  a  part. 
Perhaps  his  attention  was  attracted,  perhaps  he 
read  what  was  printed  on  both  sides  of  the  con- 
troversy, but  if  so  his  own  personal  concerns  so  far 
absorbed    his   attention    that    no   immediate  result 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  51 

was  produced,  whatever  effect  might  have  followed 
later. 

From  Regensburg  Hiibmaier  went  to  Waldshut,  a 
little  town  in  the  Breisgau,  on  the  Rhine,  beautiful 
for  situation  but  of  no  commercial  significance.  Its 
military  importance  was  considerable,  and  might  be 
again  in  certain  contingencies,  as  it  completely  com- 
mands the  Rhine,  and  could  be  held  by  a  relatively 
small  force.  This  living  was  part  of  the  patronage 
of  the  convent  of  Konigsfeld,  in  the  canton  of 
Aargau,  and  how  the  choice  fell  upon  Hiibmaier  is 
not  known.'  Nor  is  it  easy  to  see  how  he  came  to 
choose  such  a  field  of  labour  in  preference  to 
Regensburg.  The  walls  of  Waldshut  have  been 
long  since  removed,  and  the  town  has  spread  some- 
what beyond  its  ancient  limits,  but  even  now  it 
must  have  a  population  considerably  below  four 
thousand,  and  a  walk  of  ten  minutes  will  take  one 
from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  "city."     There 


'  Loserth  (p.  25)  conjectures  that  he  secured  the  place  through  the 
favour  of  the  Count  Palatine  ;  Hoschek  (i.,  123)  is  sure  that  the 
intercession  of  the  Swiss  reformers  obtained  it  for  him.  Against 
the  latter  supposition  the  known  facts  are  decisive  :  it  was  certainly 
not  until  after  his  settlement  at  Waldshut  that  the  acquaintance  be- 
tween Hiibmaier  and  the  Swiss  leaders  began,  as  we  shall  presently 
see. 


52  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1481- 

seems  to  be  but  one  church — the  same  that  stood  in 
Hiibmaier's  day  and  in  which  he  preached — and  it 
is  apparently  quite  ample  for  the  needs  of  the  town. 

Possibly  the  character  of  the  people,  rather  than 
the  size  of  the  town,  constituted  the  attraction  for 
Hiibmaier.  They  were  thoroughly  German  in 
blood  and  speech,  and  had  the  characteristics  of 
that  people;  but,  in  addition,  their  proximity  to 
Switzerland  and  their  dwelling  among  the  mountains 
had  given  to  them  a  passionate  love  of  liberty.  They 
were  a  strong,  resolute,  simple  people,  loyal  to  the 
House  of  Hapsburg  and  the  religion  of  their  fathers. 
They  had  no  intention  of  being  disloyal  to  prince  or 
religion,  as  they  had  inherited  the  authority  of  both, 
and  they  had  every  intention  of  maintaining  stoutly 
what  they  regarded  as  their  own  privileges  and 
rights. 

In  such  a  town  and  among  such  a  people  Hub- 
maier  began  his  work  in  the  spring  of  1521,  and 
soon  found  himself  quite  at  home  among  them. 
For  two  years  he  remained  a  zealous  Catholic,  con- 
tinuing the  observance  of  all  the  ancient  practices, 
and  even  introducing  new  ceremonies.  In  great 
thunder-storms  he  stationed  himself  at  the  church 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  53 

door  with  the  Host  and  blessed  the  clouds;  at 
Easter  and  on  other  occasions,  as  when  the  Host 
was  carried  to  the  sick,  he  saw  to  it  that  everything 
was  done  with  much  pomp  and  state;  he  was  par- 
ticular that  two  communicants  from  the  council 
should  be  present  at  the  sacrament ;  to  Mary  and 
all  the  saints  he  paid  great  veneration. 

But  during  these  same  two  years  a  great  change  in 
his  religious  convictions  was  beginning,  and  perhaps 
these  outward  marks  of  zeal  were  only  attempts  on 
his  part  to  confirm  himself  in  a  faith  that  was 
wavering.  He  was  giving  his  leisure  hours  to  the 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  in  which,  so  far  as  we 
know,  he  was  now  beginning  for  the  first  time  to 
take  a  real  interest.  How  much  he  became  ab- 
sorbed in  this  study  his  letters  prove.  He  devoted 
especial  attention  to  the  Pauline  epistles,  first  read- 
ing the  letter  to  the  Romans,  and  then  the  letters 
to  the  Corinthians.  There  could  be  but  one  result 
of  such  study,  and  though  we  have  no  definite 
record  of  Hubmaier's  conversion,  his  life  from  this 
time  indicates  that  at  about  the  end  of  the  year 
1522  he  had  come  to  see  that  the  Catholic  Church 
had  departed,   in  doctrine  and  practice,   from  the 


54  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1481- 

tcachings  of  the  apostles;  and  he  had  also,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  study  of  the  New  Testament,  come 
to  a  clear  understanding  of  the  gospel,  and  sought 
his  personal  salvation  from  Christ  himself,  and  not 
from  the  Church  and  its  sacraments. 

A  visit  to  Switzerland,  in  June,  1522,  was  an  im- 
portant factor  in  producing  this  change.  He  first 
journeyed  to  Basel,  where  he  made  the  acquaintance 
of  Busch,  Glareanus,  and  Erasmus.  He  conferred 
with  the  latter  on  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  and 
some  dark  places  in  the  Gospel  of  John,  but  received 
little  aid.  He  was  not  at  all  pleased  with  Erasmus, 
in  fact,  and  said  of  him  afterwards,  "Erasmus 
speaks  freely  but  writes  cautiously."  From  Basel 
he  went  to  (the  Swiss)  Freiburg.  "I  have  found 
this  quite  other  than  its  name  implies,"  he  writes; 
"it  is  not  free  but  imprisoned,  and  rent  with  faction 
and  narrowness."  In  Basel  he  noted  that  the 
cloisters  were  becoming  more  empty  from  day  to 
day,  and  that  the  nuns  were  marrying.  Switzerland 
was  seething  with  disaffection  to  the  old  faith,  and 
on  the  eve  of  a  religious  revolution.  Hiibmaier  re- 
turned to  Waldshut  and  plunged  anew  into  the 
study  of  the  Pauline  epistles.     At  about  this  time 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  55 

also  we  find  that  he  is  reading  some  of  the  tracts  of 
Luther  that  had  been  so  widely  scattered  among  the 
German  people. 

At  this  juncture  of  affairs,  his  friends  at  Regens- 
burg  recalled  him  to  be  preacher  at  the  chapel  of  the 
"beauteous  Mary."  The  old  dispute  between  the 
chapter  and  the  council  had  been  compromised, 
through  the  intervention  of  the  Duke  of  Bavaria. 
The  bishop  was  to  have  spiritual  jurisdiction  over 
the  church,  and  the  right  of  confirmation  and  in- 
vestiture of  all  foundations,  besides  an  indemnity  in 
ready  money;  on  the  other  hand,  the  council  had 
the  patronage  of  the  chapel  and  the  management  of 
its  income.  Hiibmaier  began  his  work  there  on 
Advent  Sunday,  1522,'  and  found  the  chapel  well 
filled  with  both  clergy  and  laity,  especially  the 
council,  to  his  great  pleasure.  His  salary  was  fixed 
at  fifty  gulden,  besides  thirty  kreutzer  for  the  week- 
day services.  In  return  he  was  to  sing  or  have 
sung  three  masses  a  week,  preach  as  often  as  the 
provost  required,  have  processions,  and  contribute 
of  his  means  to    the  aid  of  pilgrims. 

He  began  preaching  from  the  Gospel  of  Luke 

'  Egli,  Actensammluttg,  No.  911. 


56  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [14S1- 

aiid  promised  a  course  of  sermons  from  tliat  book. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  now  strongly  inclin- 
ing to  the  new  doctrine  and  that  his  preaching  was 
of  the  evangelical  type,  though  he  practised  the 
rites  of  the  Church.  In  a  letter  written  at  this  time 
to  a  friend  in  Ulm,  he  says  that  Christ  is  preached 
in  unadulterated  fashion  in  Niirnberg,  in  spite  of 
the  opposition  of  Frederick  of  Austria  and  other 
princes,  and  adds:  "Also  among  us  in  Bavaria  is 
the  gospel  preached."  But  with  him  this  return  to 
Regensburg  was  an  experiment,  as  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  he  had  taken  care  not  to  resign  his  pastor- 
ate at  Waldshut,  and  had  so  provided  himself  a  way 
of  retreat.  Inclined  as  he  now  was  to  the  reformed 
doctrine,  he  could  see  little  prospect  of  its  progress 
in  Bavaria;  Waldshut  offered  a  more  hopeful  field. 
Accordingly,  before  the  close  of  his  trial  year, 
March  i,  1523,  he  gave  up  his  position  at  Regens- 
burg and  returned  to  Waldshut.  That  he  was  still 
held  in  high  esteem  by  the  Regensburgers  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  they  presented  him  at  his  departure 
with  fifteen  gulden.' 


'  A  special  resolution  of  the  c<iuncil  makes  mention  of  this  pledge 
of  their  friendship.     Cf.  l,oserth,  p.  2i. 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  57 

On  taking  up  his  work  anew  at  Waldshut,  Hiib- 
maier  almost  from  the  first  gave  decisive  proofs  of 
his  change  of  religious  convictions.  In  a  month 
after  his  return  we  find  him  in  active  communication 
with  the  Swiss  reformers.  He  visited  Zurich  and 
conferred  with  Zwingli  on  various  subjects,  espe- 
cially on  the  baptism  of  infants,  of  which  he  had 
been  able  to  find  no  trace  in  the  New  Testament. 
From  Zurich  he  went  to  St.  Gall,  and  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Joachim  Watt,  known  as  Vadianus. 
He  had  established  for  himself  the  reputation  of  an 
evangelical  preacher,  and  was  asked  to  preach. 
This  he  did  several  times,  to  the  great  pleasure  and 
edification  of  the  people.  It  was  on  his  return  to 
Waldshut  that  he  seems  to  have  made  known  his 
change  of  views  and  begun  to  introduce  innovations. 

It  first  becomes  clear,  however,  that  he  has  broken 
forever  with  the  old  faith  from  the  part  that  he 
took  in  the  second  religious  disputation  at  Zurich, 
held  by  order  of  the  Government  in  the  council 
hall,  October  26-28,  1523.  This  discussion  had 
been  forced  on  Zwingli  and  the  council  by  the  more 
radical  members  of  the  reforming  party  at  Zurich, 
who  wished  for  an  immediate  and  thorough-going 


58  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [1481- 

rcformation  of  religion,  on  the  basis  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  Zwingli  was  till  then  in  sympathy  with 
the  aims  of  this  radical  clement,  so  far  as  they  had 
been  formulated  and  were  understood  by  him,  but 
it  was  his  opinion  that  they  were  too  precipitate  in 
action  and  were  inclined  to  press  the  work  of  refor- 
mation too  rapidly.  So  far,  however,  the  difference 
was  concerning  methods  rather  than  principles,  nor 
did  the  discussion  develop  a  more  serious  difference 
than  this. 

The  questions  discussed  at  this  gathering  were 
the  use  of  images  and  the  celebration  of  the  mass, 
two  of  the  three  days  being  given  chiefly  to  the  first 
subject.  On  the  first  day,  after  Zwingli,  Leo,  and 
others  had  quite  fully  discussed  the  matter, — all 
being  agreed  in  principle  that  images  are  contrary 
to  the  gospel  order,  but  Zwingli  counselling  moder- 
ation in  action, — Hiibmaier  spoke  as  follows: 

"  He  who  is  the  omnipotent  and  eternal  God  has  com- 
manded us,  through  his  servant  Moses,  thus:  'If  thou 
meet  thine  enemy's  ox  or  ass  going  astray,  thou  shalt 
surely  bring  it  back  to  him  again.  If  thou  see  the  ass  of 
him  that  hateth  thee  lying  under  his  burden,  thou  shalt 
forbear  to  leave  him,  thou  shalt  surely  release  it  with 
him'  [Ex.  xxiii.,  4,  5.].     And  Christ  admonishes  us  to 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  59 

the  same  effect:  '  Which  of  you  shall  have  an  ass  or  an 
ox  fallen  into  a  well,  and  will  not  straightway  draw  him 
up  on  a  Sabbath  day?  '  [Luke  xiv.,  5].  And  much  more 
we  ought  to  pity  that  man  who  has  gone  astray  in  those 
things  that  pertain  to  his  salvation,  or  who  has  fallen  into 
some  deep  ditch  of  error,  so  that  our  labours  may  release 
him  and  bring  him  back.  And  it  is  as  clear  as  day  that 
for  ages  infinite  errors  and  abuses  have  been  brought  into 
the  Christian  Church  by  Satan,  who  never  rests;  for  he 
is  certainly  concerned  with  the  business  of  images  and 
the  mass.  I  can  only  praise,  therefore,  the  most  reverend 
council  of  this  ancient  town,  which  ordered  that  this 
friendly  gathering  should  be  held  to  discuss  these  matters, 
so  that  the  sharp  differences  of  many  concerning  religion 
might  be  adjusted  in  a  friendly  way  and  without  any 
disturbance.  That  surely  cannot  be  done  in  a  more  fit- 
ting way,  than  by  hearing  passages  from  both  Testaments 
produced  in  the  midst  of  us.  For  in  all  disputes  con- 
cerning faith  and  religion,  the  Scripture  alone,  proceed- 
ing from  the  mouth  of  God,  ought  to  be  our  level  and 
rule.  For  the  Lord  Himself  has  put  that  judge  on  the 
throne:  'And  in  a  controversy  they  shall  stand  to  judge: 
according  to  my  judgments  shall  they  judge  it '  (Ezek. 
xliv.,  24).  Wherefore  the  Lord  has  ordered  that  the 
Scriptures  shall  be  searched,  and  commanded  that  we 
hear  Moses  and  the  prophets;  for  he  will  not  receive  the 
testimony  of  man.  Christ  has  said  the  same,  likewise 
Paul  and  all  the  apostles.  For,  however  often  they  had 
to  contend  against  Satan  or  men  evidently  wicked,  they 
pressed  upon  such  the  Scriptures,  as  the  most  fitting 
judge  of  every  controversy,  and  by  means  of  these  alone 
they  won  the  victory.  For  the  Scripture  is  the  sole  light 
and  is  a  true  lantern,  by  whose  light  all  the  fictions  of 


6o  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1481- 

the  human  mind  may  be  discovered  and  all  darkness  be 
dispelled.  The  prophet  David  testifies  to  this  in  the  say- 
ing, 'Thy  word  is  a  lamp  to  my  feet'  [Ps.  cxix.,  105]. 
And  Christ  Jesus  warns  us  that  we  should  take  the  lamp 
of  that  saving  word  in  our  hands,  that,  when  the  bride- 
groom comes,  we  may  enter  with  him  to  the  eternal 
marriage  feast.  Wherefore  also,  those  errors  that  have 
sprung  up  concerning  images  and  the  mass  should  be  ex- 
amined and  corrected  by  the  sole  rule  of  the  word  of  God. 
Moreover,  whatever  shall  be  founded  on  this  will  endure 
forever;  for  the  word  of  (iod  is  eternal  and  immortal." 

On  the  second  day  he  spoke  somewhat  more  at 
length  and  in  less  general  terms  against  images: 

"  That  images  ought  never  to  be  made  or  retained  was 
sufficiently  proved  yesterday  from  the  holy  Testaments. 
And  for  my  part,  I  wish  none  had  ever  been  brought 
into  a  church  of  Christians.  For  what  Ex.  xx.,  4,  says, 
is  as  clear  and  plain  as  it  is  valid  and  incontrovertible. 
For  by  two  eloquent  laws  it  is  forbidden  not  merely  to 
worship  images,  but  even  to  make  them.  What  is  writ- 
ten in  Deut.  v.,  6  sq.  is  even  plainer,  for  there  in  three 
commands  God  removes  and  overthrows  everything  of 
the  kind:  '  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  who  brought  thee 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage.' 
Secondly,  '  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  a  graven 
image,  the  likeness  of  any  form  that  is  in  the  heaven 
above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  benenth,  or  that  is  in  the 
water  under  the  earth.'  Thirdly,  '  Thou  shalt  not  bow 
down  thyself  unto  them  nor  serve  them;  for  I,  the  Lord 
thy  God,  am  a  jealous  God,  etc'  Whence  he  orders 
them  to  burn  with  fire  and  curse  him  who  makes  such 


IS23]        The  Years  of  Preparation  6i 

things.  x\nd  all  the  people  shall  answer  and  say  Amen 
(Deut.  xxvii.,  15).'  I  will  add  another  two-horned  argu- 
ment that  will  easily  overturn  images.  To  have  images 
is  either  commanded  or  it  is  not  commanded.  If  it  is 
commanded,  let  the  Scriptures  be  produced  and  at  once 
all  strife  will  be  ended.  But  if  it  was  never  commanded 
that  we  have  them,  they  are  certainly  of  no  use.  For 
whatever  God  does  not  teach,  either  by  his  word  or  his 
works,  is  altogether  vain  and  useless.  For  as  God  alone 
is  good  so  it  follows  that  what  is  good  comes  from  God 
alone.  He  that  has  said  other  than  this  charges  false- 
hood against  God  the  Father,  Christ  the  Son,  and  the 
holy  Paul.  God  the  Father:  '  What  thing  soever  I  com- 
mand you,  that  shall  ye  observe  to  do:  thou  shalt  not 
add  thereto,  nor  diminish  from  it'  [Deut.  xii.,  32]. 
Christ  the  Son:  '  Every  plant  which  my  heavenly  Father 
planted  not  shall  be  rooted  up  '  [Matt,  xv.,  13].  Paul: 
'Whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  is  sin'  [Rom.  xiv.,  23]. 
Another  thing  also  follows  these.  One  thing  or  the 
other  must  be  granted:  images  are  either  useful  or  use- 
less to  the  Church.  But  if  they  are  of  no  use,  what  are 
they  for,  I  pray?  But  if  they  are  of  some  profit,  shall  we 
say  that  God  has  proclaimed  less  than  the  truth  when  he 
teaches  in  Is.  xliv.,  9,  that  they  are  profitable  for  no- 
thing? In  view  of  these  things,  it  is  blasphemy  if  we 
teach  that  images  call,  move,  and  draw  our  souls  to  piety. 
For  it  is  Christ  who  calls  the  sinner,  who  moves  him  to 
what  is  good,  invites  him  to  the  heavenly  marriage  feast ; 
God  the  Father  draws  those  who  come  to  Christ.  Since 
then  images,  O  woe!  have  at  some  time  been  brought 
into  the  Church,  there  is  need  of  great  care  and  prudent 


'  Hiibmaier,  or  his  reporter,  has  combined  Deut.  vii.,  5,  with  the 
passage  cited  by  him. 


62  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [mSi- 

consideration  lest  any  one  be  made  to  stumble  and  the 
general  peace  of  believers  be  disturbed.  For  up  to  the 
present  there  are  many  who  hold  firmly  to  images.  It  is 
fitting,  therefore,  to  quote  diligently  to  such  the  word  of 
God  from  both  Testaments,  and  to  place  it  before  peo- 
ple's eyes.  For  so  it  will  exert  its  own  force  and  potency, 
so  that  all  images  will  soon  fall  down.  For  it  is  impos- 
sible that,  if  the  word  of  God  be  preached,  it  should  not 
bring  forth  fruit  in  the  place  where  God  has  sent  it  (Is. 
Iv.,  lo,  ii).  Paul  said  this  at  Athens  and  many  other 
places,  as  the  Acts  bear  witness.  Therefore,  if  this  be 
done,  individual  believers  will  learn  that  images  are  of 
no  value,  and  so  it  will  come  to  pass  that  by  common 
consent  of  the  whole  Church,  without  any  trouble,  it  will 
be  ordered  that  images  be  removed.  And  then  it  will  be 
said  that  the  word  of  God  has  accomplished  the  very 
thing  for  which  it  was  sent." 

The  discussion  of  the  third  day  related  exclusively 
to  the  mass — a  subject  also  discussed  somewhat  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  second  day.  This  came  home 
to  all  the  participants  and  aroused  great  interest,  as 
was  manifest  in  the  exceptionally  lively  debate. 
Zwingli  was  cautious  in  his  statements,  for  while  he 
repudiated  the  idea  of  actual  sacrifice  in  connection 
with  the  mass,  he  seemed  to  admit  that  the  euchar- 
ist  might  be  a  representation  of  Christ's  sacrifice, 
though  not  a  repetition.  Hiibmaier  spoke  again, 
making  this  contribution  to  the  discussion: 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  63 

"Although  there  are  still  several  abuses  left  in  the 
mass  (which  I  prefer  to  call  Christ's  Testament,  or  the 
memorial  of  his  death)  this  will  certainly  be  seen  to  be 
the  chief  cause  of  all  these:  that  we  celebrate  mass  as  a 
sacrifice.  But,  to  mention  that  about  which  my  mind  is 
employed  (though  I  am  always  ready  to  be  taught  bet- 
ter), I  cannot  announce  it  in  any  other  way  than  Zwingli 
and  Leo  have  done — by  saying  that  the  mass  is  no  sacri- 
fice, but  rather  a  publishing  of  Christ's  Testament,  in 
which  is  celebrated  the  memorial  of  his  death,  through 
which  he  no  doubt  offered  himself  once  for  all  on  the 
altar  of  the  cross  and  cannot  be  offered  again.  And 
whoever  celebrates  mass  otherwise,  undertakes  to  seal  a 
document  not  yet  written.  The  reason  that  moves  me 
to  say  this  is  found  in  Matt,  xxvi.,  Luke  xxii.,  Mark 
xiv.,  I  Cor,  xi.,  Hebrews  vii.  and  ix.  Christ  says, 
'This  do,'  but  not  'This  offer.'  Whence  it  follows, 
first,  that  the  mass,  if  it  is  held  to  be  a  sacrifice,  profits 
neither  living  nor  dead.  For  as  I  cannot  believe  for 
another,  so  it  is  not  permitted  me  to  celebrate  mass  for 
another;  since  truly  this  was  instituted  by  Christ  as  a 
sign,  in  which  the  faith  of  believers  is  confirmed. 

"Secondly,  since  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are 
seals  and  tokens  of  Christ's  words  that  it  is  customary  to 
recite  in  the  mass,  priests  ought  to  use  and  proclaim  no- 
thing but  the  pure  and  clear  word  of  God,  of  which  these 
are  signs.  Whoever  celebrates  the  mass  otherwise  errs 
from  the  truth. 

"  Thirdly,  he  who  does  not  proclaim  the  word  of  God 
does  not  celebrate  the  mass.  Christ  acknowledges  the 
same,  and  Paul,  his  disciple:  '  This  do  in  remembrance 
of  me.'  '  As  often  as  ye  do  this,  ye  do  show  forth 
the    Lord's    death.'      Therefore   it  is  necessary  either 


64  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1481- 

that  Christ  yield  his  declaration,  or  our  conclusion  is 
true. 

"  Fourthly,  the  mass  should  be  read  in  Latin  to  the 
Latins,  in  French  to  the  French,  and  in  German  to  the 
Germans.  For  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  Christ 
used  a  language  at  the  supper  with  his  disciples  that 
could  be  understood  by  all  of  them.  And  likewise  when 
the  mass  is  celebrated,  it  is  ridiculous  to  recite  Latin 
words  to  a  German  who  knows  nothing  of  the  Latin  lan- 
guage. What  else  is  this  than  to  hide  the  Lord  whom 
we  ought  to  proclaim  ?  Paul  wishes  so  to  speak  in  the 
Church  as  to  be  understood  by  all,  and  he  would  rather 
speak  five  words  with  the  understanding  than  thousands 
in  an  unknown  tongue  (i  Cor.  xiv.,  19). 

"  Fifthly,  he  who  undertakes  to  celebrate  mass  truly 
ought  to  feed  not  only  himself,  but  also  others  hungering 
and  thirsting  in  spirit,  and  that  under  both  kinds.  Christ 
taught  this  by  both  word  and  deed  (Matt,  xxvi.,  27). 
^\'hoever  therefore  shall  teach  otherwise  and  administer 
otherwise,  insolently  violates  Christ's  Testament.  This 
even  an  angel  from  heaven  has  no  right  to  do,  still  less  a 
man  (Gal.  i.,  8). 

"  These,  brethren,  are  my  opinions  concerning  images 
and  the  mass,  which  I  have  learned  from  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. But  if  there  is  any  error  in  them,  I  pray  and  be- 
seech you,  by  Jesus  Christ  our  only  Saviour,  and  the  day 
of  his  last  judgment,  to  condescend  to  set  me  right 
through  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  a  fraternal  and  Christian 
manner.  I  can  err,  for  I  am  a  man,  but  I  cannot  be  a 
heretic,  for  I  am  willing  to  be  taught  better  by  anybody. 
And  if  any  one  will  teach  me  better,  I  acknowledge  that  I 
shall  owe  him  great  thanks;  I  will  confess  the  error,  and 
in  accordance  with  the  decision  of  the  divine  word  1  will 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  65 

gladly  and  willingly,  with  greatest  obedience,  submit  my- 
self to  you  and  follow  you  most  carefully,  as  followers  of 
Christ.  I  have  spoken.  It  is  yours  to  judge  me  and  set 
me  right.  I  will  pray  Christ  to  give  you  his  grace  for 
this  purpose." 

The  decision  of  the  Zurich  council '  was  studiously 
moderate — far  too  moderate  to  satisfy  the  radical 
reformers,  who  now  began  to  distrust  Zwingli  and 
to  draw  away  from  him.  The  removal  of  the  images 
was  not  ordered,  and  as  for  the  mass,  each  priest 
was  left  to  do  as  he  liked,  celebrate  it  or  not,  ac- 
cording to  his  own  conscience  and  understanding  of 
the  word  of  God — in  short,  the  council  wished  to  let 
matters  drift  a  while  longer  before  taking  vigorous 
action. 

On  the  whole,  in  these  addresses  Hiibmaier  shows 
himself  to  be  in  agreement  with  the  radical  party 
that  was  now  fast  developing  in  Zurich.  His  views 
are  more  like  those  of  Conrad  Grebel,  the  spokes- 
man of  this  party,  than  Zwingli's;  yet  his  attitude 
is  not  one  of  antagonism  to  the  Zurich  leader.  But 
it  is  evident  that  his  views  have  undergone  a  great 


'  For  the  text  of  the  decree,  which  was  dated  November  17th,  see 

Egli,  Actensammhtng,  p.   173,   No.  436  ;  cf.  Fusslin,  Beytrdge,  ii., 

43-46. 
5 


66  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1481- 

transformation  since  his  coming  to  Waldshut — he  is 
now  an  evangelical,  in  the  fullest  significance  of  the 
term.  Once  for  all  he  has  taken  his  stand  on  the 
principle  that  for  him  the  voice  of  Scripture  is  the 
only  voice  of  authority,  and  consequently  the  only 
voice  that  he  will  obey. 

A  careful  reading  of  the  account  of  the  disputa- 
tion '  confirms  the  idea  that  Zwingli  did  not  at  any 
time  differ  so  much  in  doctrine  from  Grebel  and 
Hiibmaier,  as  in  policy.  He  was  in  favour  of  pro- 
ceeding slowly  with  the  reform  in  Zurich,  for  many 
reasons.  He  had  no  objection  to  the  radical  pro- 
gramme as  an  ultimate  goal, — he  only  objected  to 
the  attempt  to  realise  it  at  once.  He  was  probably 
calculating  carefully  just  how  fast  the  council  could 
be  persuaded  to  go,  and  just  what  changes  the 
Zurich  people  would  approve.  The  difference  be- 
*  tween  them  lay  in  the  sphere  of  politics  rather  than 
in  the  domain  of  theology,  but  this  the  radicals 
could  not  see. 

Excursus  on  the  Spcllmg  of  Hiibmaier  s  Navie 

It  is  no   easy  matter  to  decide  how  the  name  of  the 
subject  of  this  biography  should  be  spelled.     He  lived 

'  The   full  account   of  this  second   disputation   may  be  found  in 
Zwingli's  Op,  i.,  481  sq. 


1523]        The  Years  of  Preparation  67 

in  an  age  when  men  had  only  vague  ideas  of  orthography, 
especially  in  the  matter  of  proper  names.  The  oldest 
known  form  of  the  name  is  in  the  matriculation  book  of 
the  University  of  Freiburg,  where  it  is  entered  under 
date  of  May  i,  1503,  as  Baldesar  Hiebmayr.  The 
Christian  name  is  spelled  by  contemporaries  Balthazar 
Baldazar,  Baldasar,  Baltassar,  and  even  Walthausar, 
while  of  the  surname  one  finds  not  fewer  than  twenty 
spellings,  namely,  Hubmar,  Huebmar,  Huebmaier, 
Huebmer,  Hubmejer,  Hubemor,  Hubmor,  Huebmor, 
Hubmaier,  Hoebmoer,  Huebmor,  Huebmar,  Hubmor, 
Hubmeyer,  Hubmoyer,  Huebmayr,  Hiebmaier,  Hub- 
mer,  Hiibmer,  Hubmair — to  say  nothing  of  such  forms 
as  Hilcmerus,  Isubmarus,  etc. 

This  ought  not  to  surprise  us,  since  it  is  well-known 
that  there  are  more  than  threescore  ways  of  spell- 
ing the  name  Shakespeare.  Generally  speaking,  the 
principle  should  no  doubt  be  recognised  that  a  man 
knows  best  how  to  spell  and  pronounce  his  own  name. 
But  what  are  we  to  do  if  he  knows  how  to  spell  it  in 
several  ways  ?  Such  is  the  case  with  the  man  with  whom 
we  have  to  do.  In  the  only  existing  autograph  (so  far 
as  known),  which  is  preserved  in  the  archives  at  Schaff- 
hausen,  and  bears  date  of  1524,  his  signature  is  Baldasar 
Huebmor.  In  his  printed  works  he  later  adopted  for  the 
first  name  the  spelling  Balthasar,  and  as  to  that  all  are 
now  practically  agreed.  During  the  last  two  years  of  his 
life  he  published  seventeen  tracts  that  are  now  in  exist- 
ence, and  on  the  pages  of  thirteen  of  these  he  prints 
his  name  Huebmor,  or  Hubmor,  essentially  the  same 
spelling. 

Examination  of  the  variant  spellings  shows  that  they 
are  all  attempts,  more  or  less  careful,  to  represent  the 


68  Balthasar  Hiibmaier     [1481-1523] 

same  sounds.  There  is  no  real  question  as  to  how  the 
name  sounded  in  the  ears  of  contemporaries.  The  first 
syllable  is  so  frequently  spelled  Hieb,  Hiib,  or  Hueb, 
as  to  leave  no  doubt  that  the  vowel  sound  was  that  of  ii, 
and  the  cases  of  variation  are  easily  explicable  on  the 
theory  that  the  umlaut  was  often  carelessly  dropped. 
The  first  syllable  cannot  possibly  have  sounded  as  Hoob. 
The  vowel  sound  in  the  second  syllable  was  obscure,  and 
as  it  fell  upon  different  ears  might  be  represented  almost 
equally  well  by  mayr,  meyer,  maier,  mor,  or  mar. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  the  spelling  Hiibmaier  seems 
to  come  nearest  to  reproducing  the  true  sounds  in  ac- 
cordance with  modern  usage. 


CHAPTER  III 

HUBMAIER   AN    EVANGELICAL  REFORMER 

1524 

RETURNING  from  the  disputation  at  Zurich 
■''  ^  committed  to  the  work  of  reform,  and  full  of 
the  proverbial  zeal  of  the  new  convert,  Hiibmaier  set 
to  work  with  energy  to  teach  his  townspeople  the 
pure  gospel.  It  was  natural  that  he  should  attempt 
to  apply  the  method  that  had  been  successful  in 
Zurich,  and  accordingly  one  of  his  first  steps  was  to 
invite  all  the  clergy  of  the  district  to  a  disputation. 
As  a  preliminary,  he  drew  up  a  series  of  theses, 
which  appeared  in  print  the  following  June,  in  this 
form : 

"  I.   Faith  alone  makes  us  just  before  God. 

"  2.  This  faith  is  the  knowledge  of  the  mercy  of  God, 
which  he  manifested  to  us  through  the  giving  of  his  only 
begotten  Son.  Thereby  are  overthrown  all  sham  Chris- 
tians, who  have  only  '  a  historical  faith  '  in  God. 

69 


/o  Balthasar  niibmaier  [1524 

"  3.  This  faith  cannot  remain  dead,  but  must  manifest 
itself  toward  God  in  thanksgiving,  toward  our  fellow- 
men  in  works  of  brotherly  love.  Thereby  are  all  cere- 
monies destroyed,  tapers,  psalms,  holy-water. 

"4.  Only  those  works  are  good  that  God  has  com- 
manded, and  only  those  are  evil  that  he  has  forbidden. 
Thereby  fall  fish,  flesh,  cowls,  plates. 

"5.  The  mass  is  no  sacrifice,  but  a  memorial  of  the 
death  of  Christ.  Hence  it  may  be  offered  as  a  sacrifice 
neither  for  the  dead  nor  for  the  living.  Thereby  fall 
masses  for  souls  and  the  like. 

"6.  When  this  memorial  is  celebrated,  the  death  of 
our  Lord  should  be  preached  in  their  mother  tongue  to 
believers.     Thereby  fall  private  masses. 

"7.  Images  are  good  for  nothing;  wherefore  such  ex- 
pense should  be  no  longer  wasted  on  images  of  wood  and 
stone,  but  bestowed  upon  the  living,  needy  images  of 
God. 

"8.  Just  as  every  Christian  should  believe  and  be 
baptised  for  himself,  so  it  is  his  privilege  to  judge  from 
the  holy  Scriptures  if  the  bread  and  wine  are  rightly 
given  him  by  his  pastor. 

"9.  As  Christ  alone  died  for  our  sins  and  we  are  bap- 
tised in  his  name  alone,  so  should  we  call  upon  him  only 
as  our  mediator  and  intercessor.  Thereby  fall  all 
pilgrimages. 

"10.  It  is  better  to  explain  a  single  verse  of  a  psalm 
in  the  vernacular  of  the  people,  than  to  sing  five  whole 
psalms  in  a  foreign  language  not  understood  by  the 
people.  Thereby  vanish  matins,  prime,  tierce,  nones, 
vespers,  compline,  and  vigils. 

"11.  All  doctrines  not  planted  by  God  himself  are 
profitless,  condemned,  and  must  be  rooted  up.      Here 


1524]       An  Evangelical  Reformer  71 

fall  to  the  ground  Aristotle,  the  Scholastics,  as  Thomas, 
Scotus,  Bonaventura  and  Occam,  and  all  teachers  who 
in  their  origin  are  not  from  God. 

"12.  The  hour  is  coming  and  is  already  here,  in 
which  no  one  will  be  considered  a  priest  but  he  who 
preaches  the  word  of  God.  Thereby  fall  the  sayers  of 
early  mass,  suffragists,  requiemists,  sayers  of  interces- 
sory masses. 

"  13.  It  is  the  duty  of  church-members,  to  whom  the 
pure  word  of  God  is  clearly  preached,  to  provide  food 
and  clothing  for  the  ministers.  Thereby  go  to  the 
ground  the  courtiers,  pensioners,  incorporators,  absen- 
tees, liars  and  dream-babblers.  . 

"  14,  Whoso  seeks  purgatory,  the  trust  of  those  whose 
god  is  the  belly,  seeks  the  grave  of  Moses — it  will  never 
be  found. 

"15.  To  forbid  priests  to  marry  and  wink  at  their 
carnal  lewdness  is  to  release  Barabbas  and  put  Christ  to 
death. 

"16.  To  promise  chastity  in  the  strength  of  man  is 
nothing  else  than  to  fly  over  the  sea  without  wings. 

"17.  Whoso  for  worldly  advantage  denies  or  remains 
silent  concerning  the  word  of  God,  sells  the  blessing  of 
God,  as  Esau  sold  his  birthright,  and  will  also  be  denied 
by  Christ. 

"18.  Whoso  does  not  earn  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of 
his  brow  is  in  condemnation,  [and]  is  not  worthy  of  the 
food  that  he  eats.  Herewith  are  all  idlers  condemned, 
whoever  they  may  be." 

Although  the  title-page  of  the  four-page  pam- 
phlet in  which  these  theses  appeared  informs  us  that 


72  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1524 

they  were  "disputed  at  Waldshut  by  Dr.  Balthas- 
sar  Fridberger  in  1524,"  there  is  reason  to  doubt 
whether  such  a  disputation  actually  occurred, 
though  doubtless  the  author  expected  a  discussion 
when  he  sent  the  writing  to  press.  There  is  no 
reason  to  doubt,  however,  that  he  proceeded  to 
reduce  the  doctrine  of  the  theses  immediately  to 
practice,  with  the  consent  of  the  people  of  Wald- 
shut. One  exception  should  be  made  to  this  state- 
ment, and  it  is  an  important  one :  the  eighth  thesis 
clearly  implies  the  doctrine  and  practice  with  which 
the  name  of  Hubmaier  afterwards  became  insep- 
arably associated,  but  this  was  clear  neither  to  him 
nor  to  others  at  this  time. 

From  various  sources,  mostly  hostile,  but  in  this 
case  seemingly  well  informed,  we  learn  that  the 
actual  religious  reforms  made  in  Waldshut  during 
the  early  months  of  the  year  1524  were  about  as 
follows:  the  services  of  the  church  were  held  in 
German,  especially  the  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist, 
which  was  administered  in  both  kinds,  the  people 
being  taught  that  they  received  only  bread  and 
wine  as  a  memorial  of  Christ's  death.  Pictures 
and  images  were  banished  from  the  church,  and  in 


1524]       An  Evangelical  Reformer  "jz 

some  cases  at  least  burnt.'  Tapers  were  banished 
from  the  altar,  and  the  costly  vestments,  chalices, 
and  jewelled  ornaments  were  sold.  The  people 
were  allowed  to  eat  meat  on  Fridays,  the  observ- 
ance of  holy  days  was  greatly  abbreviated,  and  the 
rule  of  celibacy  for  the  clergy  was  abrogated.  In 
pursuance  of  this  last  reform,  Hiibmaier  antici- 
pated the  acts  of  Luther  and  Zwingli  by  marrying 
the  daughter  of  a  burgher  named  Elizabeth  Hiig- 
line,  who  with  rare  fidelity  and  bravery  shared  his 
later  fortunes.  The  wedding  was  celebrated  with 
a  great  feast,  given  by  their  townsmen  in  their 
honour. 

In  this  work  at  Waldshut  he  ranged  himself  by 
the  side  of  the  other  evangelical  reformers.  By  all 
the  writers  of  the  day,  friendly  or  hostile,  he  is  now 
classed  with  Luther  and  Zwingli.  In  his  general 
ideal  of  practical  reform,  as  well  as  in  the  doctrines 
that  he  preached,  he  was  in  substantial  agreement 
at  this  period  with  his  fellow-workers.  Owing 
doubtless  to  his   closer    proximity  to   Zwingli,   he 


'  That  Hiibmaier  was  no  fanatical  iconoclast  we  know  from  Faber, 
who  informs  us  that  after  the  catastrophe  at  Waldshut  there  were 
found  a  costly  and  beautiful  Joachim,  besides  a  vesper  picture  and 
a  Sebastian.     Quoted  by  Loserth,  p.  44. 


74  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1524 

was  more  influenced  by  the  Swiss  reformer  than  by 
the  German ;  and  perhaps  they  had  more  in  com- 
mon in  their  method  of  interpreting  the  Scriptures. 
It  required  another  year  to  make  the  differences 
that  were  from  the  first  potential  show  themselves 
clearly  in  thought  and  action. 

In  the  meantime,  Hubmaier  was  to  learn  that  the 

path  of  the  reformer  is  by  no  means  strewn  with 

.   roses.     His  visit  to  Zurich  had  attracted  the  atten- 

\    tion  of  the  Austrian  authorities,   and  his  conduct 

after  his  return  was  closely  scrutinised.     Moreover, 

though  he  carried  the  people  of  Waldshut  with  him 

in  his  reforms,  and  to  the  last  had  their  complete 

confidence  and  warm  affection,  he  was  not  without 

«     opposition  from  the  clergy.     He  would  have  easily 

surmounted  this  dif^culty,  however,  had  there  been 

no  interference  from   without.     Interference  there 

was,  beginning  early,  increasing  in  vehemence,  and 

at  length  bringing  disaster  upon  him  and  his  work. 

Not  long  after  his  return  from  Ziirich  commis- 
sioners from  Prince  Ferdinand  came  to  Waldshut, 
and  summoned  the  mayor  and  council  of  the  town 
to  a  meeting.  Three  charges  were  presented 
against  them:  (i)  The  city  was  disobedient  to  the 


1524]        An  Evangelical  Reformer  75 

Imperial  and  episcopal  commands,  in  that  they 
tolerated  a  Doctor  who  preached  things  opposed  to 
the  Emperor  and  bishop.  This  Doctor  the  Emperor 
would  no  longer  suffer  to  remain  in  Waldshut.  (2) 
The  Doctor  preached  the  gospel  to  his  believers 
according  to  his  own  notions,  and  gave  great  scan- 
dal to  the  people  and  neighbourhood.  (3)  At  the 
debate  in  Zurich,  he  gave  himself  out  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  four  cities  and  the  Black  Forest,  a 
thing  most  distasteful  to  Emperor  and  princes,  and 
injurious  to  the  cities  and  Black  Forest.  Especially 
he  had  called  himself  "of  Waldshut,"  which  he  had 
no  right  to  do. 

The  mayor  and  council  replied  in  substance :  All 
the  Imperial  and  episcopal  mandates  had  been  duly 
published ;  they  were  not  aware  that  Hiibmaier 
preached  anything  contrary  to  them — that  was  only 
a  groundless  report  of  his  enemies.  That  he  misin- 
terpreted the  gospel  they  did  not  know ;  they  knew 
his  intention  to  be  to  preach  nothing  but  the  un- 
adulterated gospel.  That  he  had  preached  this  and 
nothing  else,  the  dean  and  all  the  clergy  of  Wald- 
shut would  testify.  That  he  had  represented  him- 
self as  a  delegate  of  the  four  cities  at  Zurich  there 


76  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [1524 

was  no  proof;  they  believed  he  had  not  done  it, 
since  he  had  conducted  himself  always  so  truly  and 
honourably  at  Waldshut  that  they  could  believe  no 
such  thing  of  him.  They  added  that  it  would  be 
hard  on  Hiibmaier  to  send  him  to  Constance  to  the 
bishop.  It  would  be  better,  they  suggested,  for 
the  commissioners  to  hear  the  Doctor,  then  they 
could  give  a  veracious  report  of  all  these  things. 

The  commissioners  were  surprised  and  enraged 
at  this  firm  answer.  They  replied  that  they  had  no 
authority  to  make  such  an  inquiry,  and  demanded 
anew  the  immediate  expulsion  of  the  offending 
Doctor.  To  this  the  authorities  would  not  consent, 
and  with  warnings  of  what  might  happen  for  such 
contumacy  the  commissioners  went  to  make  report 
to  their  master.  From  that  time  Ferdinand  was 
the  implacable  enemy  of  Hiibmaier,  and  sought  his 
life;  he  was  also  determined  to  reduce  Waldshut  to 
obedience.  Whatever  the  preacher  said  or  did  was 
made  the  subject  of  accusation  by  his  enemies,  of 
whom  he  had  some  in  the  town  and  many  outside 
of  it,  both  to  the  prince  and  to  the  bishop.  It 
must  be  admitted  that  these  accusations  were  not 
wholly  malicious;  Hiibmaier  was  openly  attempting 


^  g 


1524]        An  Evangelical  Reformer  1^ 

to  subvert  the  Catholic  doctrines  and  practice/  and 
it  is  no  wonder  if  those  who  still  believed  in  the 
Catholic  doctrine  and  practice  should  look  upon  his 
course  with  grief  and  even  determine  to  stop  him  if 
they  could. 

There  was  an  apparent  respite  from  these  troubles 
offered  him  by  a  new  invitation  from  his  old  flock 
at  Regensburg  to  visit  them  again.  To  their  letter 
he  returned  the  following  response : 

"  I  am  quite  conscious  that  I  should  have  put  myself 
again  at  the  disposal  of  your  wisdom,  yet  for  my  own 
safety  it  cannot  be  exactly  on  the  Sunday  after  Easter 
[the  time  they  had  specified].  In  the  meantime  so  great 
plague  and  pursuit  has  befallen  those  who  preach  the 
divine,  true  and  pure  word,  that  I  have  not  dared  to 
venture.  Further,  I  hear  with  great  sadness  how  in 
your  city  of  Regensburg  more  men  preach  vanity  than 
the  pure  word  of  God.  That  makes  my  heart  ache ;  for 
what  does  not  flow  forth  from  the  living  word  is  dead 
before  God.  Therefore  says  Christ,  Search  the  Script- 
ures. He  does  not  say,  Follow  the  old  customs  — 
though  I  did  nothing  else  when  I  was  the  first  time 
with  you.  However,  I  did  it  ignorantly.  Like  others, 
I  was  blinded  and  possessed  by  the  doctrine  of  men. 


•  For  example,  his  sermon  on  April  loth,  in  which  he  said,  on  the 
text  "  I  am  the  good  shepherd"  :  "  Those  who  do  not  enter  in  by 
the  door  and  are  thieves  and  robbers  are  those  pastors  who  preach 
the  legends,  untruths,  and  dreams  of  the  monks,  [and]  withhold  the 
gospel  from  the  people,  which  is  the  true  soul-murder." 


y^  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524 

Therefore  I  openly  confess  before  God  and  all  men, 
that  I  then  became  a  Doctor  and  preached  some  years 
among  you  and  elsewhere,  and  yet  had  not  known  the  way 
unto  eternal  life.  Within  two  years  has  Christ  for  the 
first  time  come  into  my  heart  to  thrive.  I  have  never 
dared  to  preach  him  so  boldly  as  now,  by  the  grace  of 
God.  I  lament  before  God  that  I  so  long  lay  ill  of  this 
sickness.  I  pray  him  truly  for  pardon;  I  did  this  un- 
wittingly, wherefore  I  write  this.  I  wonder  if  your 
preachers  now  will  say,  I  am  now  of  another  disposition 
than  formerly,  that  I  confess  and  condemn  all  doctrine 
and  preaching,  such  as  were  mine  among  you  and  else- 
where, that  is  not  grounded  in  the  divine  word.  And  if 
they  cast  at  you  the  holy  councils,  believe  it  not;  men 
will  deceive  you,  as  they  have  taunted  us  a  year  and  a 
day,  by  promising  to  hold  a  council,  but  it  does  not 
appear.  They  know  well  that  a  single  woman — such  as 
the  pious  Christian  woman,  Argula  von  Stauff ' — knows 
more  of  the  divine  word  than  such  red-capped  ones  will 
ever  see  and  lay  hold  of.  Yield  yourselves  to  God,  trust 
him,  build  on  his  word,  and  he  will  not  forsake  you. 
Whether  he  gives  a  short  life  or  a  long,  you  will  have 
eternal  life  yonder.  And  should  men  call  you  heretics, 
be  joyful,  for  your  reward  will  be  great  in  heaven.  The 
sophist-heads  at  once  called  us  heretics,  but  since  they 
make  us  heretics  in  their  writings,  they  let  the  stone  lie 


'  Of  Argula  von  Grumbach,  born  Freiin  (baroness)  von  Stauff, 
little  is  known  save  what  may  be  gathered  from  several  references 
to  her  in  Hubmaier's  writings,  and  a  single  entry  in  the  Chronicles 
of  Regensburg.  She  was  evidently  a  pious  woman  of  high  rank, 
well  read  in  the  Scriptures,  and  an  ardent  promoter  of  the  new 
evangelical  doctrine.  She  rebuked  the  Regensburg  council  for  their 
lukewarmness  in  the  work  of  reformation,  though  Cardinal  Cam- 
peggio  praised  them  highly  for  their  course. 


1524]        An  Evangelical  Reformer  79 

there.  Fools  along  with  us  it  appears  are  Niirnberg, 
Nordling,  Augsburg,  Ulm,  Reutling,  Konstanz,  St.  Gall, 
Appenzell,  Zurich,  Schaffhausen,  Basel,  Strassburg, 
Worms,  Speier,  Maintz,  and  almost  the  whole  of  the 
land  of  Saxony."  ' 

For  what  reason  Hiibmaier  declined  the  invita- 
tion from  Regensburg  we  can  only  conjecture.  He 
probably  was  unwilling  to  leave  the  work  at  Wald- 
shut  in  this  crisis,  and  if  he  sought  merely  his  own 
personal  safety  and  comfort,  there  is  nothing  to 
show  that  he  would  have  been  more  secure  in 
preaching  evangelical  doctrine  at  Regensburg  than 
at  Waldshut.  The  former  motive  seems,  from  all 
the  evidence  we  have,  to  have  been  controlling. 
The  people  of  his  town,  the  flock  for  whom  he  had 
come  to  have  a  strong  affection,  were  loyal  to  him 
under  circumstances  of  great  trial;  it  was  not  for 
him  to  desert  them. 

The  effort  to  dislodge  him  from  the  city  increased 
in  strength  and  persistence.  On  April  13th  the 
Austrian  Government  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
council  of  Waldshut,  in  which  it  was  said:  "It  is 
understood  that  your  Doctor  and  preacher  in  all  his 
sermons  holds  forth  the  Lutheran  doctrines,  praises 


'  Written  April  4th.     Quoted  by  Loserth,  p.   41. 


8o  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524 

and  defends  them,  buys  Lutheran  books  and  tracts, 
and  brings  them  home  among  his  people.  Hence 
we  would  advise,  with  all  earnestness,  that  within 
a  month's  time  you  expel  the  said  Doctor  and 
preacher  from  the  city,  and  choose  in  his  place 
another  suitable  and  pious  preacher,  who  does  not 
hold  Luther's  condemned  doctrines."  '  Not  con- 
tent with  using  the  secular  power  against  him,  the 
enemies  of  Hiibmaier  also  invoked  the  authority  of 
his  ecclesiastical  superiors.  He  was  accused  to  the 
Bishop  of  Constance,  who  had  jurisdiction  over  the 
city  of  Waldshut,  and  this  prelate  wrote  letters  of 
remonstrance  to  the  town  authorities,  rebuking 
them  for  tolerating  the  preaching  of  a  Lutheran 
heretic,  instead  of  hearing  only  one  who  would 
preach  the  "holy  gospel."  These  having  no  effect, 
he  summoned  the  offending  preacher  to  Constance. 
This  summons  Hiibmaier  refused  to  obey,  saying, 
as  it  is  reported,  "It  was  none  of  his  duty  to  ap- 
pear before  that  hypocrite. 

As  time  passed,  however,  not  only  was  there  no 
relenting  in  the  attitude  of  his  opponents,  but  the 
pressure  on  Waldshut  to  abandon  him  to  his  fate 

•  Loserth,  p.  42. 


IS24]        An  Evangelical  Reformer  8i 

became  increasingly  great,  and  it  was  at  length  evi- 
dent that  if  the  town  persisted  in  upholding  him 
the  Austrian  Government  would  resort  to  force  to 
maintain  its  authority.  As  the  one  contention  of 
that  Government  up  to  this  time  had  been  that  the 
city  should  dismiss  their  heretical  preacher,  Hiib- 
maier  was  brought  to  face  the  question  whether  he 
should  not  sacrifice  himself  for  the  sake  of  giving 
peace  to  the  city.)  His  townspeople  would  defend 
him  to  the  last  extremity,  that  was  evident ;  but 
ought  he  to  bring  the  horrors  of  war  against  Wald- 
shut,  when  his  withdrawal  would  remove  the  cause 
of  controversy  with  Austria?  We  cannot  wonder 
that  he  decided  that  it  would  be  best  for  him  to 
leave  the  city,  at  least  for  a  time,  and  he  evidently 
won  the  consent  of  his  more  influential  friends  to 
this  course.  On  the  ist  of  September,  1524,'  he 
left  the  town,  three  armed  knights  escorting  him 
to  the  frontier,  where  some  knights  from  Schaff- 
hausen  met  him  and  conducted  him  to  their  city. 
These  precautions  not  only  indicate  that  the  with- 
drawal was  carefully  planned,   but  that  his  friends 


'  Hoschek  says  August  i6th,  but  this  is  an  error  of  computation,  as 

Loserth  shows,  p.  48. 
6 


82  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524 

considered   Hiibmaier   to   be   in   serious  danger  of 
capture  en  route. 

If  he  thought  to  secure  his  own  safety  by  thus 
retreating  to  SchafThausen,  he  was  still  ignorant  of 
the  intensity  of  Austria's  hatred.  His  choice  of 
Schaffhausen  as  a  refuge  was  plainly  enough  dic- 
tated by  the  fact  that  he  had  been  domiciled  there 
before,  and  had  friends  in  the  city.  He  probably 
counted  on  them  to  ensure  him  protection,  and  not 
without  reason.  For  though  the  Austrian  Govern- 
ment pursued  him  even  here,  and  made  repeated 
and  almost  threatening  demands  for  his  surrender, 
the  council  of  Schaffhausen  firmly  refused  to  give 
him  up.  While  the  matter  was  still  pending,  Hiib- 
maier addressed  three  letters  to  the  council,  in 
which  he  besought  them  to  permit  him  to  abide 
peaceably  in  their  town.  In  the  third  and  most 
elaborate  of  these  letters,  after  setting  forth  at 
length  reasons  why  his  petition  should  be  heard,  he 
goes  on : 

"Why  have  I  made  so  long  a  preface?  Because  I  am 
called  a  disturber  of  the  people,  a  stirrer-up  of  strife,  a 
Lutheran,  a  heretic,  and  so  forth,  and  the  pious,  hon- 
ourable city  of  Waldshut  because  of  my  teaching  is  slan- 
dered high  and  low,   which  truly  pains  my  heart.      No 


1524]        An  Evangelical  Reformer  83 

one  could  ever  be  more  ready  and  willing  than  I  am  to 
give  all  men  an  account  of  my  doctrine,  as  I  have 
preached  it  these  two  years  past.  If  I  have  taught  only 
truth,  why  abuse  me?  If  error,  any  man  may  set  me  in 
the  right  way  with  the  spiritual  word.  As  man  I  may 
very  well  err,  but  will  be  no  heretic.  I  am  conscious 
that  in  the  whole  two  years  past  I  have  not  preached  a 
single  letter  that  is  not  grounded  in  God's  word.  I 
herewith  further  pledge  myself,  where  the  necessity  of 
this  my  defence  presses  me,  here  at  Schaffhausen,  I 
will  before  the  court  give  and  receive  justice.  Only  one 
should  not  offer  violence,  either  to  me  or  to  the  pious 
city  of  Waldshut.  Moreover,  I  beg  you  to  permit 
neither  me  nor  other  Christian  teachers  to  be  urged  and 
compelled,  but  hear  me  in  the  face  of  my  opponents, 
who  accuse  me  so  shamefully.  But  should  this  prayer 
of  mine  find  no  hearing,  which  once  I  would  not  have 
expected  of  Turks,  and  I  should  be  tortured  by  prison, 
rack,  sword,  fire,  or  water,  or  God  otherwise  withdraw 
from  me  his  grace,  so  that  I  speak  otherwise  than  now, 
then  do  I  herewith  protest  and  testify  that  I  will  suffer 
and  die  as  a  Christian."  ' 

The  plea  found  favour  with  the  council,  which 
returned  but  one  answer  to  the  numerous  demands 
made  for  the  surrender  of  this  now  notorious 
heretic.  Nevertheless,  it  was  a  position  of  much 
uncertainty  regarding  the  future  in  which  Hiib- 
maier  found  himself.  Schaffhausen 's  attitude  in 
this  matter,  though  doubtless  approved  in  secret  by 

'  Dated  September  gth.  and  quoted  by  Loserth,  p.  51. 


84  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524 

Ziirich  and  Basel,  and  possibly  one  or  two  other 
cantons,  aroused  much  indignation  among  the  ma- 
jority of  the  Swiss  cantons,  which  were  still  Roman 
Catholic.  It  was  an  open  question  whether  Schaff- 
hausen  would  not  be  compelled  to  yield  in  the  end, 
however  unwillingly.  In  the  meantime,  Hubmaier 
could  not  be  in  the  least  in  doubt  as  to  his  fate 
should  the  council  finally  decide  to  surrender  him 
to  his  foes.  It  was  while  in  this  condition  of  peril 
and  doubt  that  he  composed  one  of  his  most  char- 
acteristic tracts,  "Concerning  Heretics  and  Those 
who  Burn  Them."  It  is  the  earliest  plea  that  has 
come  down  to  us  for  complete  toleration ;  and  for 
this  reason,  as  well  as  for  its  biographical  value,  it 
is  herewith  given  in  full: 

"i.  Heretics  are  those  who  wickedly  oppose  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  the  first  of  whom  was  the  devil,  when  he 
said  to  Eve,  'Ye  shall  not  surely  die'  (Gen.  iii,,  4), 
together  with  his  followers.  2.  Those  also  are  heretics 
who  cast  a  veil  over  the  Scriptures  and  interpret  them 
otherwise  than  the  Holy  Spirit  demands;  as  those  who 
everywhere  proclaim  a  concubine  as  a  benefice,  pastur- 
ing and  ruling  the  church  at  Rome,  and  compelling  us 
to  believe  this  talk.  3.  Those  who  are  such  one  should 
overcome  with  holy  knowledge,  not  angrily  but  softly, 
although  the  Holy  Scriptures  contain  wrath.  4.  But 
this  wrath  of  the  Scriptures  is  truly  a  spiritual   fire  and 


1524]       An  Evangelical  Reformer  85 

zeal  of  love,  not  burning  without  the  word  of  God. 
5.  If  they  will  not  be  taught  by  strong  proofs  or  evan- 
gelic reasons,  then  let  them  be,  and  leave  them  to  rage 
and  be  mad  (Tit.  iii.,  2,  3),  that  those  who  are  filthy 
may  become  more  filthy  still  (Rev.  xxii.,  11).  6.  The 
law  that  condemns  heretics  to  the  fire  builds  up  both 
Zion  in  blood  and  Jerusalem  in  wickedness.  7.  There- 
fore will  they  be  taken  away  in  sighs,  for  the  judgments 
of  God  (whose  right  it  is  to  judge)  either  convert  or 
harden  them,  that  the  blind  lead  the  blind  and  both  the 
seduced  and  the  seducer  go  from  bad  to  worse.  8.  This 
is  the  will  of  Christ  who  said,  'Let  both  grow  together 
till  the  harvest,  lest  while  ye  gather  up  the  tares  ye  root 
up  also  the  wheat  with  them'  (Matt,  xiii.,  29).  'For 
there  must  be  also  heresies  among  you,  that  they  that 
are  approved  may  be  made  manifest  among  you'  (i 
Cor.  xi.,  19).  9.  Though  they  indeed  experience  this, 
yet  they  are  not  put  away  until  Christ  shall  say  to  the 
reapers,  'Gather  first  the  tares  and  bind  them  in 
bundles  to  burn  them'  (Matt,  xiii.,  30).  10.  This 
word  does  not  teach  us  idleness  but  a  strife;  for  we 
should  unceasingly  contend,  not  with  men  but  with 
their  godless  doctrine.  11.  The  unwatchful  bishops 
are  the  cause  of  the  heresies.  'When  men  slept,  the 
enemy  came'  (Matt,  xiii.,  25).  12.  Again,  'Blessed 
is  the  man  who  is  a  watcher  at  the  door  of  the  bride- 
groom's chamber'  (Prov.  viii.),'  and  neither  sleeps  nor 


'  Hubmaier's  quotations  of  Scripture  are  usually  very  accurate, 
and  his  references  can  almost  always  be  easily  identified,  though,  as 
the  verse  divisions  had  not  then  been  made,  he  refers  only  to  chap- 
ters. But  there  is  nothing  in  Prov.  viii.  in  the  least  corresponding  to 
the  above  words.  Had  they  not  been  given  as  a  verbatim  quotation, 
they  might  have  been  received  as  an  allusion  to  some  text  like  Matt. 


86  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524 

'sits  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful'  (Ps.  i.,  i).  13.  Hence 
it  follows  that  tlie  incjuisitors  are  the  greatest  heretics  of 
all,  since,  against  the  doctrine  and  example  of  Christ, 
they  condemn  heretics  to  fire,  and  before  the  time  of 
harvest  root  up  the  wheat  with  the  tares.  14.  For 
Christ  did  not  come  to  butcher,  destroy  and  burn,  but 
that  those  that  live  might  live  more  abundantly 
(John  X.,  10).  15.  We  should  pray  and  hope  for  re- 
pentance, as  long  as  man  lives  in  this  misery.  16.  A 
Turk  or  a  heretic  is  not  convinced  by  our  act,  either 
with  the  sword  or  with  fire,  but  only  with  patience  and 
prayer;  and  so  we  should  await  with  patience  the  judg- 
ment of  God.  17.  If  we  do  otherwise,  God  will  treat 
our  sword  as  stubble,  and  burning  fire  as  mockery 
(Job.  xli.).  18.  So  unholy  and  far  off  from  evangelical 
doctrine  is  the  whole  order  of  preaching  friars  (of 
which  variegated  birds  our  Antony  is  one),  that  hitherto 
out  of  them  alone  the  inquisitors  have  come,  19.  If 
these  only  knew  of  what  spirit  they  ought  to  be,  they 
would  not  so  shamelessly  pervert  God's  word,  nor  so 
often  cry,  'To  the  fire,  to  the  fire!  '  (Luke  ix.,  54- 
56).  20.  It  is  no  excuse  (as  they  chatter)  that  they  give 
over  the  wicked  to  the  secular  power,  for  he  who  thus 
gives  over  sins  more  deeply  (John  xix.,  11).  21.  For 
each  Christian  has  a  sword  against  the  wicked,  which  is 
the  word  of  God  (Eph.  vi.,  17),  but  not  a  sword  against 
the  malignant.  22.  The  secular  power  rightly  and 
properly  puts  to  death  the  criminals  who  injure  the 
bodies  of  the  defenceless  (Rom.  xiii.,  3,  4).  But  he 
who  is  God's  cannot  injure  any  one,  unless  he  first 
deserts  the  gospel.    23.  Christ  has  shown  us  this  clearly, 

ix.,  15,  or  John  iii.,  29.  As  it  is,  they  are  an  insoluble  puzzle. 
The  reference  to  Job,  under  Article  34,  is  also  puzzling. 


1524]        An  Evangelical  Reformer  87 

saying,  'Fear  not  them  that  kill  the  body'  (Matt,  x., 
28).  24.  The  [secular]  power  judges  criminals,  but  not 
the  godless  who  cannot  injure  either  body  or  soul,  but 
rather  are  a  benefit;  therefore  God  can  in  wisdom  draw 
good  from  evil.  25.  Faith  which  flows  from  the  gospel 
fountain,  lives  only  in  contests,  and  the  rougher  they 
become,  so  much  the  greater  becomes  faith.  26.  That 
every  one  has  not  been  taught  the  gospel  truth,  is  due 
to  the  bishops  no  less  than  to  the  common  people — these 
that  they  have  not  cared  for  a  better  shepherd,  the 
former  that  they  have  not  performed  their  office  pro- 
perly. 27.  If  the  blind  lead  the  blind,  according  to  the 
just  judgment  of  God,  they  both  fall  together  into  the 
ditch  (Matt,  xv.,  14).  28.  Hence  to  burn  heretics  is  in 
appearance  to  profess  Christ  (Tit.  i.,  10,  11),  but  in 
reality  to  deny  him,  and  to  be  more  monstrous  than 
Jehoiakim,  the  king  of  Judah  (Jer.  xxxvi.,  23).  29.  If 
it  is  blasphemy  to  destroy  a  heretic,  how  much  more  is 
it  to  burn  to  ashes  a  faithful  herald  of  the  word  of  God, 
unconvicted,  not  arraigned  by  the  truth.  30.  The 
greatest  deception  of  the  people  is  a  zeal  for  God  that 
is  unscripturally  expended,  the  salvation  of  the  soul, 
honour  of  the  church,  love  of  truth,  good  intention,  use 
or  custom,  episcopal  decrees,  and  the  teaching  of  the 
reason  that  come  by  the  natural  light.  For  they  are 
deadly  arrows  where  they  are  not  led  and  directed  by 
the  Scriptures.  31.  We  should  not  presume,  led  away 
by  the  deception  of  our  own  purpose,  to  do  better  or 
more  securely  than  God  has  spoken  by  his  own  mouth. 
32,  Those  who  rely  on  their  good  intention  and  think 
to  do  better,  are  like  Uzziah  and  Peter.  The  latter 
was  called  Satan  by  Christ  (Matt,  xvi.,  23),  but  the 
former  came  to  a  wretched  end  (i   Chron,   xiii.,    10). 


88  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524 

^;i.  Elnathan,  Delaiah  and  Gemariah  acted  wisely  in 
withstanding  Jehoiakim,  the  king  of  Judah,  when  he 
cast  the  book  of  Jehovah  into  the  fire  (Jer.,  xxxvi.,  25). 
34.  But  in  that,  after  one  book  was  burnt,  Baruch  by 
the  express  direction  of  Jeremiah,  wrote  another  much 
better  (Jer.  xxxvi.,  27-32),  we  see  the  just  punishment 
of  God  on  the  unrighteous  burning.  For  so  it  shall  be 
that  on  those  who  fear  the  frost,  a  cold  snow  falls 
(Job.  vi.,  16?).  35.  But  we  do  not  hold  that  it  was  un- 
christian to  burn  their  numerous  books  of  incantations, 
as  the  fact  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  shows  (Acts  xix., 
19).  It  is  a  small  thing  to  burn  innocent  paper,  but  to 
point  out  an  error  and  to  disprove  it  by  Scripture,  that 
is  art.  36.  Now  it  is  clear  to  every  one,  even  the  blind, 
that  a  law  to  burn  heretics  is  an  invention  of  the  devil. 
'Truth  is  immortal.*  " 

The  world  was  not  ready  for  this  doctrine  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  1524;  indeed,  now  that  a  large 
part  of  the  world  has  come  to  profess  this  same 
faith,  those  who  really  believe  it  are  a  lamentably 
small  remnant.  The  old  zeal  for  persecuting  still 
survives,  and  often  breaks  out  in  utterly  uncon- 
scious manifestations  in  the  midst  of  every  religious 
body.  We  do  not  really  believe  that  the  ark  of 
God  is  safe  unless  our  hand  occasionally  steadies 
it.  We  have  no  real  confidence  at  bottom  in  the 
ability  of  the  truth  to  conquer  error  in  a  fair  field, 
and  arc  impelled  from  time  to  time  to  lend  our  in- 


1524]        An  Evangelical  Reformer  89 

valuable  aid — always,  of  course,  on  the  side  of  right 
and  truth  and  justice. 

Another  fruit  of  the  stay  at  Schaffhausen  was  due 
to  a  controversy  that  had  broken  out  between  his 
old  teacher  and  friend,  John  Eck,  and  his  new 
friends,  the  Swiss  reformers,  especially  Zwingli. 
Thirsting  for  the  fray,  Hiibmaier  prepared  a  series 
of  theses  which  were  printed  in  Zurich  the  following 
November,  in  both  German  and  Latin,  the  latter 
edition  having  the  title:  "Fundamental  articles, 
which  Baldazar,  the  fly  of  Fridberg,  brother  in 
Christ  of  Huldrych  Zwingli,  has  proposed  to  John 
Eck,  the  elephant  of  Ingolstadt,  for  masterly  exam- 
ination." These  articles  are  of  special  interest,  as 
showing  the  relations  that  obtained  at  this  time 
between  the  author  and  the  Zurich  leader: 

"i.  Every  Christian  must  give  to  him  who  demands  it 
an  account  of  his  hope  and  also  of  his  faith. 

"  2.  For  only  him  who  fearlessly  confesses  Christ  be- 
fore men  will  he  also  confess  before  his  Father. 

"  3.  With  the  heart  one  believes  unto  righteousness, 
but  with  the  mouth  he  makes  confession  unto  salvation. 

"  4.  When  you  have  not  faith,  how  can  you  under- 
stand this:  '  I  have  believed,  therefore  have  I  spoken'? 
How  will  you  believe  him  whom  you  have  not  heard  ? 

"5.   The    decision,    which    of    two  holds    the    right 


90  Balthasar  Hubmaicr  [1524 

opinion,  belongs  to  the  cluirch,  which  is  conceived  in 
the  word  of  (iod  and  born  in  faith. 

"  6.  For  the  sake  of  order  and  to  avert  strife,  three 
or  four  men  may  be  chosen  by  the  church,  as  once 
Peter  and  Paul,  Barnabas  and  James. 

"  7.  The  apostles  of  Christ  held  councils,  not  to 
settle  the  doctrine  of  faith,  but  to  maintain  unity  among 
the  brethren. 

"  8.  Their  decision  appears  according  to  the  'level' 
of  the  Scripture. 

"9.  It  searches,  therefore,  the  divine  Scripture,  not 
papal  dogmas  nor  councils,  nor  Fathers,  nor  schools, 
for  the  word  of  Christ  will  judge  all  things. 

"  10.  Those  only  should  be  judges  who  are  taught 
and  inspired  by  God. 

"11.  They  are  such  when  they  put  away  worldly 
passion  and  search  the  Bible. 

"12.  That  is,  they  arc  not  to  contend  with  unspirit- 
ual  verbosity,  even  to  hoarseness,  but  to  explain  the 
dark  places  of  the  Scripture  by  the  clear. 

"13.   Those  who  do  that  are  blessed. 

"  14.   And  to  them  one  should  hearken. 

"15.  Their  judgment  will  be  sanctioned  by  the 
silence  of  the  multitude. 

"16.  The  church  should  be  heard  in  things  relating 
to  strife  and  brotherly  love;  but  in  disagreement  regard- 
ing the  faith  the  Scripture  is  the  only  standard. 

"17.  It  may  well  be  that  all  men  should  especially 
teach,  so  that  every  one  may  learn  and  all  receive 
comfort. 

"18.  Therefore  has  .God  given  to  the  prophet  the 
spirit  of  truth-speaking,  and  he  is  a  teacher  not  of 
strife  but  of  peace. 


1524]        An  Evangelical  Reformer  91 

"19.  He  guards  them  also  against  false  prophets; 
they  mislead  with  flattering  words  the  hearts  of  the  in- 
nocent, after  they  receive  from  the  Pope  twelve  times 
a  hundred  ducats. 

"  20.   Beware  of  them,  they  are  sons  of  hell. 

"21.  In  this  conflict,  every  one  must  teach  equipped 
with  the  armour  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

"22.  And  the  women  must  be  silent  and  learn  at 
home  of  their  husbands. 

"  23.  But  if  the  men  through  fear  have  turned  to 
women,  then  must  these  do  men's  deeds,  like  Deborah, 
and  Argula  of  our  own  time. 

"  24.  The  judges  should  therefore  be  true  theologians, 
not  '  invested  and  provided  with  cowls,'  but  such  as 
wear,  according  to  the  divine  injunction,  the  '  breast- 
plate '  of  Aaron. 

"25.  The  learned  therefore  are  to  hear;  the  learned 
are  they  who  daily  read  the  book  of  the  law,  and  have 
Moses  and  the  prophets. 

"  26.  They  who  do  not  read  this  book  ought  not  to 
be  judges. 

"  Where  now  is  this  wise  man,  this  Biblical  scholar? 
Where  is  the  disputer  of  this  world?  Is  it  Eck?  Let 
him  come  to  us,  that  renowned  Hercules,  from  Ingol- 
stadt.  If  I  do  not  deceive  myself,  he  will  be  taken 
with  a  'herculean'  sickness,  he  will  suffer  danger  in  the 
'fray  of  the  faith.'     If  he  comes,   we  will  praise  him." 

To  this  challenge,  of  course,  Eck  paid  not  the 
slightest  attention  —  indeed,  there  is  nothing  to 
show  that  he  ever  saw  it.  The  value  of  the  docu- 
ment consists  solely  in  the  light  that  it  throws  on 


92  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524 

Hiibmaier's  opinions  and  connections.  It  has  not 
always  been  correctly  interpreted ;  it  is  reading  the 
author's  subsequent  history  into  the  articles  to  see 
in  them  doctrine  "entirely  in  the  direction  of  the 
Anabaptists."  '  The  principle  that  the  Scripture  is 
to  be  the  arbiter  of  all  questions,  the  sole  rule  of  faith 
and  practice,  did,  indeed,  become  later  the  funda- 
mental contention  of  the  Anabaptist  party ;  but  it 
was  at  this  time  also  the  fundamental  avowal  of  the 
Swiss  reformers,  and  had  been  such  from  the  first. 
It  was  upon  this  basis  that  the  first  Zurich  disputa- 
tion was  conducted,  and  in  all  their  writings  Zwingli 
and  CEcolampadius  had  been  setting  it  forth  as  the 
corner-stone  of  their  reformation.  Luther,  too,  up 
to  this  time  had  been  advocating  the  same  principle 
with  all  the  vigour  of  his  voice  and  pen.  It  had 
not  yet  been  shown  that  the  reformers  would  be 
unwilling  to  follow  this  principle  to  all  lengths.  It 
was  their  ultimate  refusal  to  do  this,  their  partial 
surrender  again  to  the  tradition  they  had  so  vigor- 
ously repudiated,  that  led  to  the  division  of  the 
reforming  party  and  developed  the  minority  radical 
group,  to  whom  the  name  "Anabaptist"  was  gener- 


'  Hoschek,  i.,  146. 


THE   MUNSTER,  OR  CHIEF  CHURCH  OF  SCHAFFHAUSEN. 


1524]       An  Evangelical  Reformer  93 

ally  given.  There  is  nothing  in  the  above  theses, 
fairly  interpreted  in  the  light  of  contemporary 
events,  that  foreshadows  any  serious  difference  of 
opinion  between  Hiibmaier  and  Zwingli. 

The  next  that  we  learn  of  Hiibmaier  is  his  sudden 
return  to  Waldshut  on  the  29th  of  October,'  He 
had  probably  become  more  than  ever  doubtful  of 
his  continuance  in  safety  at  Schaffhausen,  but  it 
had  also  become  perfectly  evident  that  his  leaving 
Waldshut  had  accomplished  nothing.  So  far  from 
bringing  peace  to  the  city,  his  going  away  had 
apparently  increased  its  trouble  with  the  Austrian 
Government.  At  first  the  demand  had  been  only 
that  the  heretic  preacher  should  be  expelled,  but, 
after  he  had  voluntarily  withdrawn,  other  conces- 
sions were  demanded.     The  negotiations  were  long 

'  A  contemporary  chronicle  quoted  by  Loserth  (p.  70)  says  that  he 
was  received  with  extravagant  manifestations  of  joy,  being  greeted 
with  drums,  pipes,  and  horns,  "  just  as  if  he  were  an  Emperor," 
The  council,  according  to  Faber,  looked  with  little  sympathy  on  this 
demonstration,  but  the  people  welcomed  him.  The  reception  ended 
with  a  feast  in  the  market-house,  in  which  the  Swiss  contingent  par- 
ticipated. Further  alterations  in  public  worship  were  now  made. 
Hiibmaier  himself  reassumed  his  office  of  chief  pastor  and  preacher, 
and  his  salary  was  fixed  at  two  hundred  gulden  (Egli,  Actensamm- 
lung.  No.  911).  He  did  not  hesitate,  also,  to  take  his  part,  like  any 
other  citizen,  in  the  defence  of  the  town,  and  bespoke  armour,  an 
arquebus,  and  a  broadsword,  that  he  might  keep  his  watch  at  the 
gate. 


94  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [,524 

and  tiresome,  and  it  would  be  profitless  for  our 
purposes  to  go  into  their  details.  It  is  enough  to 
say  that  the  people  of  Waldshut  speedily  learned 
from  Austria  that  before  they  would  be  left  in  peace 
they  must  return  fully  to  the  Catholic  religion  and 
submit  to  whatever  other  exactions  that  Govern- 
ment chose  to  impose.  The  truth  is,  that  the  city 
was  in  a  condition  of  political  as  well  as  religious 
unrest  and  revolt ;  of  this  Austria  was  fully  con- 
scious, and  was  determined  to  reduce  the  town 
to  submission.  On  the  other  hand,  the  citizens 
desired  such  liberties  and  immunities  as  the  neigh- 
bouring Swiss  towns  possessed,  such  as  were  en- 
joyed by  the  free  cities  of  the  Empire,  and  they 
would  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less.  But  as  Aus- 
tria was  determined  to  grant  nothing  of  the  kind,  it 
is  evident  that  here  were  all  the  conditions  of  an 
irrepressible  conflict,  the  issue  of  which  could  only 
be  decided  finally  by  the  sword. 

The  strife  seemed  an  unequal  one — on  the  one 
side  all  the  power  of  Austria,  on  the  other,  this 
small  town.  But  Waldshut  knew  that  she  did  not 
stand  alone.  The  fact  that  she  had  entered  on  a 
reformation  similar  in  spirit  and  method  to  that  of 


1524]       An  Evangelical  Reformer  95 

Ziirich  gained  for  her  the  warm  sympathy  of  that 
town,  as  well  as  of  several  other  Swiss  cities.  For 
prudential  reasons,  this  sympathy  might  not  take 
the  form  of  openly  aiding  a  rebellion  against  Aus- 
tria, but  secret  aid  was  doubtless  promised  and  was 
certainly  given.  On  several  occasions  when  Austria 
menaced  Waldshut  with  an  armed  force,  men  from 
Zurich  came  to  her  aid  and  caused  the  invaders  to 
retire. 

But  there  was  a  special  reason  just  now  for  Aus-^ 
trian  forbearance  towards  Waldshut,  and  for  the 
triumphant  return  of  the  favourite  preacher  thither. 
Hans  Muller  and  his  band  of  insurgent  peasants 
were  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  town,  and  had 
more  or  less  fraternised  with  the  citizens,  and  the 
Austrian  Government  was  trembling  at  the  possible 
consequence  of  this  uprising.  Archduke  Ferdi- 
nand, with  his  usual  treachery,  was  instructing  his 
officers  and  governors  to  temporise  with  the  peas- 
ants until  he  could  collect  a  sufficient  military  force 
to  crush  them ;  in  the  meantime,  it  was  evident 
that  he  could  do  nothing  against  Waldshut. 

It  is  not  easy  to  determine  exactly  what  were  the 
relations  between   Hiibmaier  and  this  movement. 


96  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524 

His  enemies  busied  themselves  afterwards  in  making 
all  sorts  of  charges  against  him,  some  of  which  are 
contrary  to  documentary  evidence  and  others  ab- 
surd in  themselves.  He  confessed  under  torture  at 
Vienna  in  1528  that  he  had  revised  and  commented 
on  the  peasants'  articles,  which  were  sent  him  from 
the  camp  for  the  purpose.  The  statement  would 
imply  a  certain  amount  of  sympathy  with  the  gen- 
eral purposes  of  the  uprising,  and  would  at  the  same 
time  restrict  his  actual  connection  with  it  to  very 
narrow  limits.  It  is  now  tolerably  certain  that 
those  who  credited  him  with  the  original  composi- 
tion of  the  articles  were  astray.'  All  that  we  know 
of  Hiibmaier's  life,  and  the  general  tenor  of  his 
writings,  alike  point  to  the  conclusion  that  he  was, 
first  of  all,  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  and  that  his 
interest  in  political  and  social  reforms  was  slight  in 
comparison  with  his  zeal  to  teach  men  the  true  re- 
ligion of  Christ,  as  he  understood  it.  To  him  the 
gospel  was  the  one  remedy  for  all  the  ills  of  man. 
It  would  not  only  save  men  from  God's  wrath  and 
condemnation,  but  save  them  from  sin.     It  would 

'See  Bax,  The  Peasants'  War  in  Germany,  p.  75 J^.,  London, 
1889.  For  the  opposite  view,  Stern,  Ueber  die  zwolf  Artikel  der 
Bauern,  esp.  p.  89  sq. 


1524]       An  Evangelical  Reformer  97 

not  merely  fit  men  for  heaven,  but  for  their  life 
upon  earth.  Consequently,  while  he  no  doubt  be- 
lieved the  cause  of  the  peasants  to  be  just,  and 
wished  them  well,  and  even  gave  them  his  more  or 
less  open  approval,  he  was  not  the  man  to  become 
their  leader,  like  Miinzer,  to  whom  the  gospel  came 
to  mean  social  reform  far  more  than  individual 
regeneration. 

How  does  this  attitude  of  Waldshut  and  of  Hiib- 
maier  agree  with  his  later  assertions  that  the  only 
grievance  of  Austria  against  the  town  and  him  was 
on  account  of  the  gospel? 

"  With  us  neither  tax  nor  tithes  has  ever  been  spoken 
against  with  the  least  word,  but  it  has  been  sought  to 
force  us  from  the  word  of  God  by  violence  and  against 
all  right.  That  has  been  our  only  complaint.  Here  I 
defy  all  men  on  earth  and  all  devils  in  hell,  that  there 
was  no  other  occasion  against  Waldshut  but  alone, 
alone,  alone  the  word  of  God.  God  grant  that  they 
may  acknowledge  it,  and  illumine  those  who  denied  us 
before  the  prince  [Ferdinand].  As  I  now  speak  I  could 
prove  to  the  prince  when  he  was  at  Breisach  in  Breis- 
gau.  Those  in  Waldshut  proffered  this  orally  and  in 
writing  to  the  pripce.  Also  to  other  princes  and  lords 
who  were  there  personally,  and  especially  to  the  Christ- 
ian town  of  Constance,  in  which  the  last  diet  was  held, 
those  from  Waldshut  publicly  promised  that  they  would 
to  the  prince  and  all  others  do  all  things  as  they  were 


98  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1524 

done  before,  as  their  forefathers  have  done;  and  much 
more,  they  offered  to  pour  out  their  body,  life,  honour, 
goods,  and  blood  for  the  sake  of  the  honourable  house 
of  Austria;  and  if  there  were  a  stone  at  Waldshut  ten 
fathoms  deep  under  the  earth  which  was  not  good 
Austrian,  they  would  scratch  it  out  with  their  nails  and 
cast  it  into  the  Rhine.  They  have  always  been  the 
first  to  pay  to  the  prince  their  obedience  and  tribute, 
but  have  ever  asked  with  weeping  eyes  for  God's  sake 
that  they  be  allowed  the  simple,  pure,  clean  word  of 
God. 

"  The  councillors  of  the  prince  gave  this  answer  at 
Constance:  'It  shall  not  be  done  at  all.  If  that  were 
allowed  them,  it  would  be  the  same  as  if  one  fire  were 
put  out  and  others  lighted.  Other  cities  afterwards 
would  desire  the  same.'  I  know  all  those  who  gave 
this  answer,  but  I  will  not  now  indicate  them.  The 
messengers  of  the  cities  of  Zurich,  Basel,  and  Schaff- 
hausen  were  present  at  this  answer."  ' 

This  was,  no  doubt,  the  manner  in  which  the 
question  always  presented  itself  to  the  mind  of 
Hubmaier;  to  him  the  great  question,  the  sole 
question,  was  the  preaching  of  a  pure  gospel.  But 
there  is  considerable  evidence  at  hand,  which  need 
not  be  given  here  in  detail,  to  show  that  this  was 
not  the  matter  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  Waldshut 
citizens  generally,  nor  does  this  statement  of  the 
matter  agree  with  the  idea  that  the  Austrian  Govern- 

'  A  Hho)  t  Apology  of  Dr.  Balthasar  Huebmor  of  Fridberg,  Op.  1 3. 


^.1^ 


PORTRAIT  OF  CECOLAMPADIUS. 

FROM  AN  OLD  WOODCUT. 


1524]       An  Evangelical  Reformer  99 

ment  had  of  the  things  at  issue.  Religious  reform 
was,  indeed,  one  thing  that  Austria  understood  to 
be  demanded  by  Waldshut,  and  which  she  was 
resolute  in  refusing  to  concede;  but  she  had  other 
grievances  against  the  city,  that  might  be  summed 
up  in  the  one  word,  "contumacy." 

Thus  affairs  remained  for  months  with  little 
change:  Austria  threatening  and  occasionally  mak- 
ing demonstrations  of  attack  ;  Waldshut  stubbornly 
resisting,  and  relying  not  in  vain  on  her  secret  allies 
for  continuous  moral  support  and  occasional  active 
though  unofificial  assistance.  The  relations  between 
Hiibmaier  and  the  Swiss  reformers  during  this 
period  were  close  and  warm.  He  was  known  not 
to  believe  in  the  Scripturalness  of  infant  baptism, 
but  the  reformers  themselves  were  at  this  time  by 
no  means  strenuous  in  maintaining  this  point,  and 
such  difference  of  opinion  as  there  might  have  been 
did  not  interrupt  their  friendly  intercourse.  In 
one  of  his  pamphlets,  as  we  have  seen,  Hiibmaier 
describes  himself  as  "brother  of  Huldrych  Zwingli," 
and  Zwingli,  CEcolampadius  and  the  other  Swiss 
leaders  had  only  words  of  sympathy  and  praise  for 
him.     But  all  this  was  speedily  to  change. 


CHAPTER  IV 

HUBMAIER    BECOMES   AN   ANABAPTIST 
1524-I526 

T^HE  closing  weeks  of  1524  saw  Zwingli  in  great 
*■  perplexity,  and  the  people  of  Zurich  divided 
in  sentiment.  The  reformation  in  that  city  was 
begun  by  the  systematic  exposition  of  the  Script- 
ures, and  from  the  first  the  principle  was  avowed 
that  nothing  was  to  be  preached  or  practised  which 
was  not  clearly  taught  in  the  word  of  God.  It  was 
inevitable  that  differences  of  judgment  should  arise 
over  the  practical  application  of  this  principle  to 
the  work  of  actual  reform ;  and  even  when  there 
was  virtual  agreement  as  to  what  should  be  done, 
there  would  still  be  room  for  disagreement  as  to  the 
time  and  method  of  doing  it.  Every  man  is  by 
temperament  and  training  a  radical  or  a  conserva- 
tive, and  a  party  on  the  whole  agreed  in  policy  has 
always  its  Left  and  its  Right  wing.  Zwingli  had 
the  experience  common  to  all  leaders :  whatever  he 


1524-1526]    Becomes  an  Anabaptist  loi 

did  or  left  undone,  some  were  certain  to  accuse 
him  of  going  too  fast,  while  others  would  assert 
that  he  was  going  far  too  slow;  to  one  he  would 
seem  to  be  destroying  the  very  foundations  of  the 
faith,  while  another  would  complain  of  him  as  only 
a  half-hearted  reformer  after  all. 

A  radical  wing  or  group  gradually  developed  in 
the  party  of  reform,  and  by  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1525  they  were  demanding  with  much  insist- 
ence that  Zwingli  should  adhere  with  more  consist- 
ency to  his  avowed  principle  of  conformity  to  the 
Scriptures,  and  should  move  more  quickly  in  the 
direction  of  a  complete  reform  of  the  Church. 
They  demanded  that  he  should  "separate  himself 
from  the  godless,  and  gather  a  pure  church,  a  con- 
gregation of  the  church  of  God."  '  The  only 
church  of  which  they  could  find  mention  in  the 
New  Testament  was  a  congregation  of  true  believ- 
ers in  Christ,  and  it  seemed  plain  to  them  that 
conformity  to  the  Scriptures  required  that  the 
church  of  Zurich  should  be  reorganised  on  that 
basis.     They  had  also  discovered  not  only  that  the 


'  BuUinger,  Reformationsgeschichte,  i.,  224.     Cf.  Zwingli,  Op.,  II., 
i.,  372  ;  Egli,   WiedertiUifer,  p.  \o  sq. 


I02  Balthasar  Iliibmaicr  [1524- 

baptism  of  infants  is  nowhere  commanded  in  the 
New  Testament,  but  that  there  is  no  clear  case  re- 
corded there  of  the  baptism  of  any  but  a  believer 
on  his  personal  profession  of  faith.  The  intimate 
connection  of  these  things,  and  the  bearings  of 
them  on  their  own  conduct  had  not  yet  been  appre- 
hended by  this  radical  group,  but  they  were  already 
quite  clear  as  to  what  the  Scriptures  did  and  did 
not  teach. 

There  was  thus  raised  the  weightiest  question 
that  arose  for  solution  during  the  entire  Reforma- 
tion period — a  question  that  goes  deeper  than  any 
other,  and  has  more  momentous  consequences  than 
any  other,  according  as  one  answer  or  the  contrary 
is  given.  It  was  this  question  that  became  funda- 
mental with  this  party,  and  held  that  position 
throughout  the  history  of  the  Anabaptists.'  Ana- 
baptism  was  but  a  necessary  corollary  from  the  an- 
swer given  to  the  question,  What,  according  to 
the  Scriptures,  is  a  church  of  Christ,  and  of  whom 
should   it    be  composed?     The  radicals  could   find 


'  The  name  "Anabaptist"  is  not  applied  to  the  radical  party  here 
or  elsewhere  before  they  actually  adopted  the  practice  of  rebaptism. 
It  is  believed  that  considerable  confusion  is  avoided  by  maintaining 
carefully  this  distinction. 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  103 

but  one  answer:  A  church  of  Christ  is  a  congrega- 
tion of  true  believers,  giving  token  that  they  have 
been  born  again  of  the  Spirit  of  God  by  living 
in  accordance  with  the  precepts  of  their  Lord.  A 
church  composed  of  the  regenerate  only  was  the 
ideal  of  this  party,  and  they  pressed  upon  Zwingli 
the  adoption  of  this  as  his  programme. 

To  Zwingli  this  seemed  an  impracticable  ideal. 
His  was  an  eminently  practical  mind,  and  he  saw 
clearly  what  was  likely  to  be  successful  and  what 
would  almost  certainly  fail.  He  had  begun  his 
work  with  the  approval  and  support  of  the  town 
council  of  Zurich ;  he  reckoned  the  continuance 
of  support  by  the  council  to  be  an  absolute  neces- 
sity to  him,  if  he  was  to  succeed;  and  he  was  cer- 
tain that  he  could  not  carry  the  council  with  him 
in  any  such  programme  as  that  urged  by  the  radi- 
cals. It  is  not  necessary  for  any  who,  on  the  whole, 
agree  with  the  radicals  that  to  be  right  is  even 
more  important  than  to  succeed,  to  question  the 
sincerity  of  Zwingli  in  the  course  that  he  took. 
Though  a  zealous  reformer  and  an  ardent  patriot, — 
or  perhaps  one  should  rather  say,  because  he  was 
both  these, — he  was    not    a    radical ;  no   policy   of 


I04  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [1524- 

" Thorough"  could  under  any  circumstances  have 
had  his  entire  approval.  And  he  was  able  to  argue 
from  the  Scriptures  against  the  radical  position 
with  an  exegesis  that  was  ingenious  if  not  correct. 
He  insisted  that  the  tares  should  be  allowed  to 
grow  together  with  the  wheat,  that  the  strong 
ought  to  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak,  and  the 
like. 

The  question  of  infant  baptism  seemed  to  Zwingli 
at  first  open  to  doubt.  He  avows  that  for  a  time 
his  mind  was  not  at  rest  on  this  question,'  and  the 
like  was  true  of  his  friend  CEcolampadius.  But 
when  they  saw  later  the  practical  bearings  of  the 

'  "  For  the  error  also  misled  me  for  several  years,  so  that  I  thought 
it  would  be  much  better  to  baptise  children  first  when  they  had  come 
to  a  good  age."  I'om  Touff,  7'ovi  Wider touff,  und  voni  Kinder touff, 
Zwingli,  Op.  II.,  i.,  245.  "Although  I  know,  as  the  Fathers  show, 
that  infants  have  been  baptised  occasionally  from  the  earliest  times, 
still  it  was  not  so  universal  a  custom  as  it  is  now,  but  the  common 
practice  was,  as  soon  as  they  arrived  at  the  age  of  reason,  to  form 
them  into  classes  for  instruction  in  the  word  of  salvation  (hence  they 
were  called  catechumens,  i.  e.,  persons  under  instruction).  And 
after  a  firm  faith  had  been  implanted  in  their  hearts  and  they  had 
confessed  the  same  with  their  .Tiouth,  then  they  were  baptised.  I 
could  wish  that  this  custom  of  giving  instruction  were  revived  to-day, 
viz.,  since  the  children  are  baptised  so  young,  their  religious  instruc- 
tion might  begin  as  soon  as  they  come  to  sufficient  understanding. 
Otherwise  they  suffer  a  great  and  ruinous  disadvantage,  if  they  are 
not  as  well  religiously  instructed  after  baptism  as  the  children  of 
the  ancients  were  before  baptism,  as  sermons  to  them  still  preserved 
show." — Quoted  by  Jackson,  IJulJreich  Zwingli,  p.  243. 


IS26]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  105 

question,  they  convinced  themselves  without  much 
trouble  of  the  Scripturalness  of  the  practice,  and 
thereafter  remained  its  firm  advocates.  This  ac- 
counts for  their  friendly  attitude  towards  Hiibmaier 
and  others  when  this  question  first  began  to  be  dis- 
puted, and  it  also  accounts  for  other  things  to  be 
related  soon.  It  is  absurd  to  attribute  the  rise  of 
this  question  in  Zurich  to  the  agency  of  Thomas 
Miinzer.  Those  who  have  conjectured,  on  the 
weak  authority  of  BuUinger,'  that  he  instructed 
Grebel  and  others  in  this  matter,  would  hardly 
be  prepared  to  admit  that  Miinzer  inspired  the 
doubts  which  at  the  same  time  disturbed  Zwingli 
and  Q^colampadius.  It  is  not  necessary  to  have  re- 
course to  any  outside  agency  to  explain  this  very 
simple  matter.  The  Zurich  people  were  study- 
ing  the  Scriptures  attentively  to  learn  what  they 

'  Weak  because  of  Bullinger's  strong  prejudice  against  Anabaptists 
and  his  readiness  to  record  anything  to  their  discredit.  Reforrna- 
tionsgcsc/iir/ite,  i.,  224,  237;  followed  l)y  Kgli,  VVidertdufer,  p.  ig  ; 
Loserth,  Iliibmaitr,  p.  73,  and  others.  On  the  other  hand,  the  cir- 
cumstantial narrative  of  Kessler  is  quite  inconsistent  with  this  the- 
ory. Sabbata,  i.,  265  sq.  Hiibmaier  opposed  the  baptism  of  infants 
as  early  as  May,  1523,  and  the  earliest  time  that  can  with  probability 
be  assigned  for  his  meeting  with  Miinzer  is  after  September,  1524, 
as  we  know  from  a  letter  of  Mlinzer's  to  CEcolampadius. — Siede- 
niann,  Thomas  Miinzer,  p.  136  sq.  ;  f/".  Jackson,  Huldreich  Zwingli, 
p.  243,  n. 


io6  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [1524- 

taught,  and  no  long  study  is  needed  to  disclose  the 
fact  that  infant  baptism  certainly  does  not  lie  on 
the  surface  of  the  New  Testament  writings. 

Those  who  hold  that  the  Swiss  Anabaptists  had 
derived  their  views  from  Miinzer  cannot  have  read 
attentively  the  letter  written  by  Grebel,  Mantz, 
and  others,  September  5,  1524,  in  which  they  re- 
quest from  him  a  statement  of  his  ideas  regarding 
baptism ;  and,  after  expounding  their  own  doctrine 
at  some  length,  go  on  to  say  : 

"We  believe  .  .  .  that  all  children,  who  have  not 
yet  come  to  know  the  difference  between  good  and  evil 
are  saved  by  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  the  new 
Adam.  .  .  .  Also  that  infant  baptism  is  a  silly, 
blasi)hcmous  outrage,  contrary  to  all  Scripture. 
Since  .  .  .  you  have  published  your  protestations 
against  infant  baptism,' we  hope  you  do  not  act  against 
the  eternal  word,  wisdom,  and  command  of  God,  ac- 
cording to  which  only  believers  should  be  baptised, 
and  that  you  baptise  no  children."  ' 

This  is  hardly  the  language  of  disciples  to  a  master, 
and  the  whole  letter  is  similar  in  tone.      In  a  word, 

'  On  the  practice  of  Miinzer  regarding  the  baptism  of  infants,  see 
his  statement  to  (Ecolampadius  in  Herzog's  biography,  i.,  302.  It 
did  not  differ  much  from  that  of  Hiibmaicr  before  Roublin's  visit 
and  the  definite  adoption  of  Anabaptism — a  point  to  which  Miinzer 
never  came. 

'Cornelius,  Gesch.  dcs  Munsterischen  Aufrnhrs,  ii.,  2.\Q  sq. 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  107 

the  writers  roundly  rebuke  Miinzer  for  his  errors, 
especially  singling  out  his  teaching  about  the  sword 
for  reprobation.  Grebel  and  the  others  had  evi- 
dently learned  that  the  teaching  and  practice  of 
Miinzer  did  not  in  all  respects  agree,  and  so  far 
from  looking  up  to  him  as  one  from  whom  they 
had  learned  something  valuable,  they  take  him  to 
task  as  an  erring  brother. 

This  theory  would  probably  never  have  been 
broached  but  for  the  fact  that  the  name  of  Thomas 
Miinzer  was  loaded  with  obloquy,  on  account  of 
his  doings  in  Miihlhausen  during  the  rebellion  of 
the  peasants,  and  therefore  to  establish  any  sort 
of  connection  between  him  and  the  Anabaptists  is 
to  discredit  the  latter — which  is  a  thing  that  many 
writers,  from  Bullinger  to  our  own  day,  have  busily 
attempted  to  do.  It  should  also  be  borne  in  mind 
that  Miinzer  was  not  himself  an  Anabaptist,  though 
often  incorrectly  called  by  that  name.  Though  he 
asserts  in  one  of  his  tracts  that  infant  baptism  can- 
not be  proved  from  Scripture,  he  never  abandoned 
the  practice,  and  his  teaching  on  this  subject  was 
purely  academic,  and  filled  no  large  place  in  his 
horizon. 


ro8  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [.524- 

By  this  time  Hiibmaier  had  become  thoroughly 
convinced,  not  only  that  the  baptism  of  infants  is 
contrary  to  Scripture,  but  that  he  ought  to  combat 
the  practice.  This  we  learn  from  a  letter  that  he 
wrote  to  QEcolampadius,  under  date  of  January  i6, 
1525: 

"  For  we  have  publicly  taught  that  children  should 
not  be  baptised.  Why  do  we  baptise  children?  Bapt- 
ism, say  they  [Zwingli  and  Leo],  is  a  mere  sign.  Why 
do  we  strive  so  much  over  a  sign?  The  meaning  of  this 
sign  and  symbol,  the  pledge  of  faith  until  death,  in  hope 
of  the  resurrection  to  the  life  to  come,  is  to  be  con- 
sidered more  than  a  sign.  This  meaning  has  nothing 
to  do  with  babes,  therefore  infant  baptism  is  without 
reality.  In  baptism  one  pledges  himself  to  God,  in  the 
Supper  to  his  neighbour,  to  offer  body  and  blood  in  his 
stead,  as  Christ  for  us.  I  believe,  yea,  I  know,  that  it 
will  not  go  well  with  Christendom  until  Baptism  and  the 
Supper  are  brought  back  to  their  own  original  purity. 
Here,  brother,  you  have  my  opinion;  if  I  err,  call  me 
back.  For  I  wish  nothing  so  much  that  I  will  not  re- 
voke it,  yea,  cut  it  off,  when  I  am  taught  better  from 
the  word  of  God  by  you  and  yours.  Otherwise  I 
abide  by  my  opinion,  for  to  that  I  am  constrained  by  the 
command  of  Christ,  the  word,  faith,  truth,  judgment, 
conscience.  Testify  to  the  truth,  you  can  in  no  way 
offend  me.  I  am  a  man  and  can  fall,  since  that  is 
human,  but  from  my  heart  I  desire  to  rise  again.  Write 
we  whether  the  promise  in  Matt,  xix.,  14,  'Let  the  little 
children  come  to  me,'  etc.,  especially  belongs  to  infants. 
What  prompts  me  to  that  is  the  word  of  Christ,  'for  of 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  109 

such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,'  not  'of  them.'  I  have 
sent  letters  to  Zwingli  by  the  captain  of  our  volunteers. 
Instead  of  baptism,  I  have  the  church  come  together, 
bring  the  infant  in,  explain  in  German  the  gospel,  'They 
brought  little  children';  then  a  name  is  given  him,  the 
whole  church  prays  for  the  child  with  bended  knees,  and 
commends  him  to  Christ,  that  He  will  be  gracious  and 
intercede  for  him.  But  if  the  parents  are  still  weak, 
and  positively  wish  that  the  child  be  baptised,  then  I  bap- 
tise it;  and  I  am  weak  with  the  weak  for  the  time  being 
until  they  can  be  better  instructed.  As  to  the  word, 
however,  I  do  not  yield  to  them  in  the  least  point.  I 
have  written  twenty-two  theses  with  sixty-four  remarks, 
which  you  will  soon  see.'" 

The  last  sentence  seems  to  imply  a  purpose  of 
publication,  but,  so  far  as  is  known,  it  was  not  ful- 
filled. On  February  2nd,  however,  he  did  issue  a 
leaflet  entitled  TJie  Open  Appeal  of  Balthazar  of 
Friedherg  to  All  Christiaji  Believers,  which  shows 
the  increasing  firmness  of  his  tone  regarding  the 
baptism  of  infants : 

"Whosoever  wills,  let  him  show  that  one  ought  to  bap- 
tise young  children,  and  let  him  do  this  in  German,  with 
plain,  clear,  simple  Scriptures,  relating  to  baptism,  with- 
out addition. 

"Balthazar  of  Friedberg  pledges  himself,  on  the  other 
hand,  to  prove  that  the  baptism  of  infants  is  a  work 
without  any  ground  in  the  divine  word,  and  that  he  will 


>  Zwingli,  Op.  II.,  i.,  338. 


iio  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

do  this  in  German  with  plain,  clear,  simple  Scriptures 
relating  to  baptism,  without  any  addition. 

"Now  let  aBible  fifty  or  a  hundred  years  old  be  opened, 
as  the  right,  orderly,  and  truthful  judge  between  these 
two  propositions;  let  it  be  read  with  prayerful,  humble 
spirit,  and  then  this  disagreement  will  be  decided  ac- 
cording to  the  word  of  God,  and  finally  settled.  Then 
shall  I  be  well  content,  for  I  shall  always  give  God  the 
glory,  and  permit  his  word  to  be  the  sole  arbiter — to 
him  will  I  surrender,  to  him  have  I  devoted  myself  and 
my  teaching.     The  truth  is  immortal."* 

From  this  time  Hiibmaier  becomes  the  champion 
of  the  radicals,  and  it  is  this  championship  that 
brings  him  into  speedy  conflict  with  the  Swiss  re- 
formers. They  could  have  forgiven  him  his  opin- 
ions regarding  infant  baptism,  especially  as  he  did 
not  for  a  time  insist  on  making  his  practice  perfectly 
correspond  with  his  theory.  What  they  could  not 
so  easily  forgive  was  the  aid  and  comfort  that  he 
continually  gave  to  their  most  troublesome  op- 
ponents. Zwingli  felt  that  his  position  was  hard 
enough  in  Zurich  without  the  interference  of  such 
men  as  the  Waldshut  preacher  to  encourage  his 
opponents  and  make  his  task  still  harder.  He 
would  have  been  a  remarkable  man  if  he  could 
have  retained  a   friendly   feeling  for  one  who  was 

'  Loserth,  p.  76. 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  m 

thus  giving  him  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  Hiibmaier 
did  not  intervene  in  person  for  a  time,  but  through 
the  press  he  made  himself  felt  continually.  Many 
of  the  Zurich  radicals  were  men  of  learning  and 
ability ;  some  of  them  were  possibly  the  superiors 
of  Hiibmaier  in  scholarship;  but  he  had  pre- 
eminently the  gift  of  expression.  We  owe  to  his 
writings  the  better  part  of  our  knowledge  concern- 
ing the  teachings  and  motives  of  these  men  who  for 
a  few  years  played  so  active  a  part  in  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  then  succumbed  to  the  relentless  measures 
of  persecution,  only  to  be  misunderstood  and  vili- 
fied for  generations  afterward. 

It  was  through  William  Roublin,  of  Wytiken, 
that  Hubmaier's  practice  was  at  length  brought 
into  harmony  with  his  theory.'  Driven  out  of 
Zurich,  Roublin  made  his  way  early  in  April,  1525, 
to  Waldshut,  where  he  was  kindly  received.  He 
at  once  proceeded  to  expound  the  principles  and 
practice  of  Anabaptism  to  Hiibmaier,  and  found 
in  him  a  ready  hearer  and  a  speedy  convert.  Of 
the   principles   the   Waldshut    pastor   was   already 


'  This  we  know  from  Hiibmaier  himself.     Egli,  Actensammlung, 
p.  431. 


112  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [1524- 

convinced ;  the  practice  seemed  to  him  both  logical 
and  Scriptural.  Such  was  his  hold  upon  the  people 
of  Waldshut  that  a  large  part  of  them  were  at  once 
ready  to  follow  him.  Roublin  baptised  Hiibmaier 
and  about  sixty  others,  and  on  Easter  day  Hiib- 
maier baptised  over  three  hundred  men  out  of  a 
milk-pail  filled  with  water  from  the  well,  brought 
into  the  church  and  placed  on  the  font,  which  soon 
after  was  thrown  into  the  Rhine  as  a  papal  relic.  On 
Easter  Monday  the  Lord's  Supper  was  celebrated. 

The  movement  towards  Anabaptism  did  not  stop 
with  this  extraordinary  beginning,  but  went  on 
with  little-diminished  rapidity.  On  Monday  and 
Tuesday  after  Easter  Hiibmaier  baptised  from 
seventy  to  eighty  others,  and,  on  Tuesday,  "gave 
them  the  bread  of  heaven  and  washed  their  feet." 
From  this  and  certain  other  like  references  in  con- 
temporary chronicles,  it  should  seem  that  the  prac- 
tice of  feet-washing  in  connection  with  the  Supper 
had  been  previously  introduced  at  Waldshut,  and 
was  still  retained.  In  the  attempt  to  reproduce  the 
exact  order  of  the  New  Testament  churches,  there 
/  were  certain  to  be  some  extravagances,  resulting 
from  a  hasty  and  unwise  literalism. 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  113 

At  about  this  time  Conrad  Grebel,  one  of  the 
chief  men  of  the  Anabaptist  movement  in  Switzer- 
land, paid  a  brief  visit  to  Waldshut,  but  it  does 
not  appear  that  there  was  any  marked  result.  The 
visit  is  of  significance  mainly  as  showing  that  Hiib- 
maier  was  now  recognised  as  one  of  the  Anabaptist 
leaders.  Not  only  did  he  receive  this  recognition 
within  the  body,  but  from  outside  this  was  hence- 
forth the  place  of  honour  or  dishonour  awarded 
him.  On  May  28th  appeared  Zwingli's  tract  On 
Baptism,  Anabaptisvi,  mid  Infant  Baptisin,''  and 
though  Hiibmaier  is  not  definitely  named  in  it  as 
the  adversary  against  whom  it  is  chiefly  aimed,  it 
is  plainly  his  position  and  his  arguments  that  the 
Swiss  reformer  has  in  mind  throughout. 

The  contents  of  this  tract  are  summarised  by 
Zvvingli  himself  in  three  theses:  (i)  No  element  or  out- 
ward thing  in  this  world  can  cleanse  the  soul;  the 
cleansing  of  the  soul  pertains  only  to  the  grace  of  God. 
Thence  it  follows  that  baptism  can  remit  no  sins. 
Since  it  cannot  do  this,  and  nevertheless  has  been  ap- 
pointed by  God,  it  must  be  a  sign  of  allegiance  of  God's 
people  and  nothing  else.  (2)  Christian  children  are  not 
less  God's  children    than    their  parents,  just  as  in  the 

'  Zwingli,  op.  II.,  i.,  230-303.  No  translation  of  this  work  into 
English  has  yet  been  published. 


114  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

Old  Testament.  But  if  they  are  God's  children,  who 
shall  forbid  their  baptism?  Circumcision  in  the  old 
covenant  was  the  sign  that  baptism  is  to  us.  As  that 
was  given  to  children,  so  should  baptism  also  be  given 
to  children.  (3)  Anabaptism  has  neither  teaching,  ex- 
ample, nor  witness  from  God's  word.  They  who  rebaptise 
crucify  Christ  afresh,  either  from  selfishness  or  seeking 
after  novelty. 

Hiibmaier  was  not  the  man  to  let  such  an  oppor- 
tunity for  debate  pass  unimproved,  and  he  accord- 
ingly  prepared   an    answer  under  the  title   of   TJie 
Christian  Baptism  of  Believers,  which  he  seems  to 
I      have  finished  July  nth.' 

This  work  consists  of  an  introduction  and  seven 
chapters.  In  the  introduction  the  author  sets  forth  his 
purpose  to  defend  himself  and  his  followers  from  the 
imputation  that  they  are  schismatics  and  subverters  of 
government.  He  is  not  an  Anabaptist,  because  he  was 
never  before  baptised — infant  baptism  is  no  baptism  at 
all.  As  to  government,  he  believes  that  it  should  bear 
the  sword,  and  he  will  obey  it  in  all  that  is  not  against 
God. 

In  the  first  chapter  he  treats  of  many  kinds  of  bap- 


'  Hoschek  is  clearly  wrong  in  making  June  6th  the  date  of  publi- 
cation for  this  book,  for  Hiibmaier  himself  announces  its  coming 
appearance  in  a  letter  to  the  Zurich  council,  dated  June  loth,  in 
which  he  begs  that  Zwingli  will  consent  to  debate  the  question  with 
him.  "  If  I  err,"  he  says,  "  I  will  gladly  retract.  If  master  Ulrich 
errs,  he  should  not  be  ashamed  to  forsake  his  error,  for  the  truth  will 
ultimately  conquer  him." 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  115 

tism,  and  concludes  that  Christian  baptism,  in  the  name 
of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  is  an  open  confession 
and  testimony  of  inward  faith  and  obedience,  in  which 
a  man  testifies  that  he  is  a  sinful  man  and  believes  that 
Christ  through  his  death  has  removed  his  sins.  The 
next  two  chapters  discuss  the  baptism  of  John,  and  con- 
tend against  Zwingli's  idea  that  it  is  the  same  as  Christ- 
ian baptism.  If  this  were  so,  Hiibmaier  argues,  infant 
baptism  would  be  excluded,  for  all  accounts  agree  that 
the  order  of  John  was:  hearing  of  the  word,  repentance 
or  conviction  of  sin,  baptism,  works.  John  baptised 
only  those  to  whom  he  had  first  preached,  who  had 
therefore  believed,  confessed  their  sins,  and  promised 
amendment  of  life.  Those  who  received  the  baptism  of 
John  were  rebaptised  by  the  apostle,  and  that  is  the  true 
Anabaptism.  Infant  baptism,  hitherto  reckoned  the  true 
baptism,  is  no  baptism,  and  it  is  a  groundless  complaint 
against  us  that  we  practice  rebaptism.  Baptism  as 
practiced  by  the  apostles  was  the  remission  of  sins. 
Those  who  think  children  should  be  baptised  as  future 
believers  make  a  mock  of  Christ's  command,  to  teach 
all  peoples  and  to  baptise  them  then,  not  before.  No 
one  can  tell  what  a  child's  will  may  be  later;  to  baptise 
a  child  as  a  future  believer  is  like  hanging  out  a  hoop  as 
a  sign  of  future  wine.  But  now,  says  Hiibmaier,  they 
take  a  fresh  hold  and  call  infant  baptism  "a  sign  of 
beginning."  Beginning  of  what?  Of  faith?  that  can- 
not be,  for  they  have  not  heard  the  word,  from  which 
alone  faith  comes.  Of  a  new  life?  That  cannot  well 
be,  for  the  child  knows  not  right  from  wrong.  Let  us 
say,  then,  it  is  a  ceremony,  as  if  the  child  had  been 
received  into  an  order.  But  as  the  monk's  gown  alone 
does   not   make   the    monk,  so   infant    baptism   makes 


Ti6  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1524- 

nobody  a  Christian.  If  they  say  children  are  baptised  on 
the  faith  of  their  parents  or  godfathers,  no  such  baptism 
is  found  in  the  Bible.  Christ  says,  he  who  himself  be- 
lieves and  is  baptised. 

The  fifth  chapter  treats  of  the  baptism  of  Christ.  In 
his  teachings  the  true  order  is  found  to  be:  the  word, 
hearing,  faith,  baptism,  works.  His  command  is,  "Go, 
teach  all  peoples,  and  baptise  them,  etc."  There  is  only 
this  water-baptism,  no  other,  in  the  Scripture.  Since 
infants  cannot  be  taught,  they  should  not  be  baptised. 
Baptism  alone  does  not  wash  away  sins,  but  only  the 
answer  of  a  good  conscience.  In  chapter  six,  the  ques- 
tion is  raised  whether  the  baptism  of  infants  is  forbidden 
in  the  Bible.  Yes,  says  Hubmaier,  for  it  is  commanded 
to  baptise  only  believers.  If  the  plea  is  valid  that  infant 
baptism  is  not  forbidden,  one  might  baptise  his  dog  or 
ass,  circumcise  girls,  bring  young  children  to  the  Sup- 
per, and  the  like.  If  you  say  to  baptise  an  ass  is  for- 
bidden, because  one  may  baptise  only  men,  then  baptise 
Jews  and  Turks;  or  if  you  say,  one  may  baptise  only 
believers,  then  why  do  you  baptise  children?  A  second 
question  raised  is,  whether  (as  Zwingli  had  asserted) 
infants  had  been  baptised  ever  since  the  days  of  the 
apostles.  The  first  reply  is,  that  even  if  this  were  true 
infant  baptism  would  not  be  right.  But  Hubmaier  finds 
evidence  in  papal  documents  that  a  thousand  years 
earlier  baptism  was  administered  only  twice  a  year,  and 
then  only  to  such  as  could  repeat  the  Creed.  Popes  and 
councils,  he  contends,  have  corrupted  the  faith  and 
practice  of  the  Church.  A  third  question  is  also  dis- 
cussed, are  unbaptised  children  damned  or  saved?  To 
this  the  reply  is  given,  that  God  may  through  his  grace 
save  young  children,   because  they  do  not  know   good 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  117 

from    evil.      But  the   author   confesses   that   he   is  not 
ashamed  to  be  ignorant  of  what  God  has  not  revealed. 

Chapter  seven  gives  advice  as  to  how  a  Christian 
should  regulate  his  life.  It  is  the  sum  of  a  Christian  life, 
says  the  author,  that  a  man  should  alter  and  amend  his 
living — hear  the  command  of  God,  forsake  his  sins,  live 
according  to  the  rule  of  Christ,  permit  the  working  of 
God's  Spirit  in  him  and  be  thankful  to  God  for  his 
grace.  Christ  established  a  memorial  of  his  death  in 
his  last  Supper,  so  that  we  might  not  forget  him.  The 
bread  is  nothing  else  than  bread,  and  the  wine  is  as  any 
other  wine;  yet  is  the  bread  the  body  of  Christ,  but 
only  as  a  symbol,  while  the  wine  is  the  blood  of  Christ, 
but  only  as  a  memorial.  As  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread 
(mark,  he  calls  it  bread,  and  it  is  bread),  and  drink  this 
cup,  that  is  wine  (mark,  it  is  wine  that  we  drink),  ye 
show  forth  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come. 

Though  Zv^^ingli  was  not  named  in  this  tractate, 
yet  his  teachings  were  so  clearly  singled  out  for 
criticism  and  refutation  that  there  was  no  doubt  in 
his  mind,  or  in  that  of  intelligent  readers,  as  to  the 
aim  and  purpose  of  the  writing.  The  clear  exposi- 
tion of  Scripture,  the  moderate  tone,  the  skilful  and 
racy  way  of  putting  things,  convinced  many  readers 
that  the  teachings  thus  set  forth  were  Scriptural  and 
true.  The  best  proof  of  the  circulation  and  effect 
of  the  tract  is  the  angry  tone  that  now  begins  to 
creep  into  the  private  letters  of  the  Swiss  reformers 


ii8  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1524- 

when  they  have  occasion  to  mention  lliibmaier, 
and  if  a  further  proof  were  needed,  the  tartness  of 
Zwingli's  reply  furnishes  it.  His  tract  was  entitled 
A  True,  Thorough  Reply  to  Dr.  Balthasar  s  Little 
Book  071  Baptism,  and  the  preface  is  dated  Novem- 
ber 5th.'  It  contains  little  that  is  new,  reiterating 
the  arguments  of  his  former  treatise,  with  occasional 
attempts  to  meet  the  objections  of  his  adversary. 
The  tone  is  one  of  irritation,  and  though  he  writes 
"dear  Balthasar"  frequently,  there  is  occasionally 
a  betrayal  of  the  fact  that  their  friendly  relations 
had  been  much  strained.  He  especially  complains 
that  Hubmaier  writes  against  him,  without  men- 
tioning him  by  name,  and  says  that  this  is  wicked 
{bdse)\  he  would  much  rather  have  an  opponent 
come  out  boldly  and  declare  himself  such.  He 
presses  again  the  objection  that  the  Anabaptists 
are  schismatics,  and  that  their  course  will  result  in 
the  division  of  the  Church  and  the  destruction  of 
the  standing  order. 

This  was  evidently  the  main  reason  for  the  deter- 
mined opposition  that  Zwingli  offered  to  the  Ana- 
baptists   and    their   teachings.     No   doubt   he   was 


'Zwingli,  Op.,  II.,  i.,  343-369. 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  119 

correct;  and  that  such  consequences  impended  was 
reason  enough  to  his  mind  why  the  Anabaptists 
should  be  resisted,  condemned,  and  punished.  To 
many  of  the  present  day  the  same  logic  will  be  con- 
vincing; but  there  are  many  now,  as  there  were 
then  a  few,  who  will  insist  on  answering :  Granted 
that  you  state  the  danger  accurately,  the  question 
still  remains,  Ought  not  this  to  be  risked?  Should 
we  not  obey  the  Scriptures,  no  matter  what  the 
consequences  promise  to  be? 

The  answer  of  Hiibmaier,  which  concluded  this 
controversy,  though  prepared  at  once,  was  not 
printed  until  the  following  year.  It  was  entitled 
A  Dialogue  betzveen  BaltJiasar  Hubvior  of  Friedbcrg 
and  Master  Ulrich  Zwingli,  of  Zurich,  on  Infant 
Baptism.'  The  Dialogue  is  a  controversial  device 
that  has  been  much  employed,  but,  one  suspects, 
to  very  little  purpose.     It  is  a  dangerously  simple 

'  Op.  10.  This  Dialogue  gives  internal  evidence  of  having  been 
rewritten  after  the  author's  actual  dispute  with  Zwingli  (see  p.  126). 
An  extensive  extract  from  it  is  given  in  Burrage's  Anabaptists  in 
Switzerland,  pp.  148-152.  Hiibmaier  claims  that  the  words  of  Zwing- 
li are  taken  from  his  published  writings.  Occasionally  the  attack  is 
pretty  severe,  as  in  this  case  :  "  You  said  in  opposition  to  Faber 
that  all  truth  is  clearly  revealed  in  the  word  of  God.  If,  now,  in- 
fant baptism  is  a  truth,  show  us  the  Scripture  in  which  it  is  found. 
If  you  do  not,  the  vicar  will  complain  that  you  have  used  against 
him  a  sword  that  you  now  lay  aside." 


I20  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [1524- 

affair;  the  writer  can  conduct  both  sides  of  the 
controversy,  make  the  arguments  of  his  imaginary 
disputant  as  ridiculous  and  inconclusive  as  he 
pleases,  and  his  own  quite  overwhelming.  But  the 
apparent  victory  thus  gained  is  the  most  delusive 
of  all  dialectical  triumphs,  for  it  is  open  to  his 
adversary  to  retort  in  the  same  way,  and  to  win 
victories  equally  bloodless  and  equally  indecisive. 
A  mere  tyro  in  rhetoric,  theology,  and  all  else  can 
easily  beat  one  who  is  not  there  to  speak  for  him- 
self. Hiibmaier  was  rather  fond  of  this  form  of 
controversial  writing,  however,  which  must  be  ad- 
mitted to  have  the  merit  of  interest  for  the  reader, 
if  it  is  skilfully  done;  and  he  had  shortly  before 
tried  it  in  a  dialogue  on  the  same  subject  between 
himself  and  several  adversaries  at  once,  of  whom 
the  chief  was  CEcolampadius.'  As  to  literary  form, 
this  latter  dialogue  is  the  best  of  his  work,  and  an 
extract  will  give  a  better  impression  regarding  it 
than  pages  of  description  : 

"  G<2coLAMPADius.  Parents  will  see  with  pleasure  their 
children  put  to  death  in  the  name  of  Christ. 

'  The  disputants  were  supposed  to  be,  besides  Hiibmaier  and 
CEcolampadius,  Thomas,  an  Augustinian  reader,  Jacob  Immelen, 
and  Wolfgang  Weissenburger. 


■¥■■ 


'4 


PORTRAIT  STATUE  OF  CECOLAMPADIUS. 

CLOISTER  WALL  OF   THE  CATHEDRAL.   BASEL. 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  121 

"  Balthasar.  My  CEcolampadius,  how  are  children 
killed  in  water-baptism  ?  Bodily  ?  Then  they  must  be 
drowned.  Do  you  say  spiritually,  a  killing  of  the  old 
Adam  ?  Then  I  hear  indeed  that  cradle-infants  can  sin 
and  resist  sin,  against  the  clear  word  of  God.  (Deut.  i. 
[39].)     Ah,  God,  whither  will  the  truth  drive  you! 

"  CEc.  What  need  is  there  of  division  for  the  sake  of 
the  water  ? 

"  Bal.  It  is  not  for  the  sake  of  the  water,  but  for  the 
high  command,  the  baptism  of  Christ.  Water  is  not 
baptism,  as  the  making  of  idols  is  not  mere  stone  and 
wood,  but  idolatry  which  by  that  is  practised  against  the 
earnest  command  of  God.     (Ex.  xx.  [4],  Deut.  v.  [8j.) 

"  Wolfgang.  Well,  in  baptism  it  is  not  your  father's 
faith  that  is  applied,  but  that  of  the  Christian  assembly. 

"  Bal.  Some  of  you  tell  me  of  the  faith  of  another,  of 
father  and  mother,  some  of  the  faith  of  godfathers,  some 
of  the  faith  of  the  Church,  and  all  of  this  is  spoken  with- 
out foundation  in  the  Scriptures.  For  if  infants  are 
baptised  on  the  faith  of  their  father  and  mother,  why  is 
it  forbidden  to  the  father  and  mother  to  present  their 
children  for  baptism  ?  If  it  is  in  the  faith  of  godfathers 
or  of  the  Church,  men  may  be  saved  by  another's  faith. 
All  of  which  is  contrary  to  the  Scriptures,  for,  the  just 
will  live  by  his  own  faith.  (Hab.  ii.  [4],  Rom.  i.  [17].) 
He  who  himself  believes  and  is  baptised  shall  be  saved, 
not  he  for  whom  one  believes.  (Mark  xvi.  [16].) 
Philip  demanded  the  chamberlain's  own  faith.  (Acts 
viii.  [37].)  '  The  Christian  Church  is  built  on  the  con- 
fession of  one's  own  faith.     (Matt.  xvi.  [16].) 


'  Hiibmaier  could  not  be  expected  to  foresee  that  modern  textual 
criticism  would  cut  the  ground  from  under  this  argument  by  pro- 
nouncing this  verse  an  interpolation. 


122  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

"  CEc.  I  will  show  you  a  place  in  Tcrtullian,  that 
baptism  is  not  a  bond. 

"  Bal.  You  tell  me  much  of  Tertullian,  Origen, 
Cyprian,  Augustine,  councils,  histories,  and  old  customs. 
I  am  compelled  to  think  you  are  in  want  of  Scriptures. 
They  will  not  come  out  of  the  quiver.  Dear  CEcolam- 
padius,  put  together  your  Scriptures  concerning  infant 
baptism,  as  I  have  done  with  the  Scriptures  concerning 
the  baptism  of  believers  in  my  little  book  on  baptism 
printed  at  Strassburg,  and  we  will  together  weigh  them 
and  soon  we  will  be  at  one.     Do  it.     Don't  forget  it." 

The  time  was  approaching  when  Hiibmaier  was 
to  experience  the  results  of  this  breach  with  the 
Swiss  reformers.  The  long  controversy  between 
I  Waldshut  and  the  Austrian  Government  reached  its 
crisis  in  the  late  autumn  of  1525.  The  complete 
defeat  of  the  insurgent  peasants,  and  the  settlement 
of  some  other  internal  troubles,  left  the  Government 
free  to  turn  its  sole  attention  for  a  time  to  Wald- 
shut, and  it  was  evident  that  without  external  help 
the  city  could  not  stand  out.  But  from  the  one 
available  source  of  aid,  the  Swiss  cities,  Waldshut 
had  cut  itself  off  by  its  adherence  to  its  favourite 
preacher.  The  only  terms  of  peace  offered  by  the 
Government  of  Ferdinand  were  that  the  city  should 
return  to  the  old  faith,  and  surrender  their  pastor 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  123 

and  eight  of  the  leading  citizens  to  the  tender 
mercies  of  Austria.  These  terms  were  of  course 
refused,  and  there  was  nothing  left  but  an  appeal 
to  force.  There  had  all  along  been  a  Catholic 
minority  in  the  town,  to  whom  the  reforms  intro- 
duced had  been  most  obnoxious,  and  now  they 
were  emboldened  to  declare  that  they  meant  to 
surrender  the  city  to  the  Austrians.  Hiibmaier 
felt  that  all  was  lost,  and,  with  some  of  the  more 
timid  or  more  deeply  compromised  citizens,  fledi 
The  Austrian  forces  occupied  the  city  December 
5th,  and  on  the  17th  the  Vicar-General  of  the 
Bishop  of  Constance,  John  Faber,  entered  the  city 
and  celebrated  the  mass.  After  an  interregnum  of 
two  years  or  more,  Waldshut  was  thus  forcibly 
restored  to  the  Catholic  faith,  and  we  hear  no  more 
of  reformation  there.' 

Hiibmaier  had  been  ill  during  these  last  trying 
weeks, — so  ill  that  he  described  himself  as  sick  unto 
death  {ei7t  todtkrankcr  Mami), —  and  his  departure 
was  made  in  the  utmost  haste.  As  we  know  from 
a  letter  of  Zwingli's,  his  wife  accompanied  him, 
and  if  we  may  accept  another  statement  from  the 


'  Kessler,  Sabbata,  i.,  350;  Egli,  Actensammltmg,  No.  911. 


124  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1524- 

same  source  they  were  not  ill  provided  with  money.' 
Why  he  should  have  chosen  Zurich  as  a  place  of 
refuge  it  is  not  easy  for  us  to  guess,  since  in  our 
ignorance  of  the  motives  that  influenced  him  it 
seems  now  that  this  was  the  very  last  place  that  he 
would  or  should  have  chosen.  Possibly  he  still 
relied  on  his  former  friendly  relations  with  Zwingli, 
and  did  not  yet  comprehend  how  complete  was  the 
breach  between  them,  nor  know  how  deep  was  the 
resentment  of  the  Swiss  reformer.  He  must  have 
known,  or  at  any  rate  he  very  soon  became  aware, 
that  the  Zurich  council  had  now  adopted  very  severe 
measures  against  all  Anabaptists,  and  especially 
those  foreign  to  the  canton,  for  every  precaution  of 
secrecy  was  taken  by  him  and  his  friends. 

About  the  middle  of  December  he  reached  the 
city,  and  was  given  harbourage  (contrary  to  law)  by 
Henry  Aberli,  an  Anabaptist  preacher,  and  was  by 
him  taken  to  an  inn  called  the  Green  Shield,  kept 

'  "When  he  went  away  [from  Zurich]  he  so  worked  on  these  good 
men's  feelings  that  they  gave  him  ten  gold  pieces.  And  yet  either 
he  or  his  wife  had  more  gold  than  they  had  silver.  ...  I  see 
in  him  (I  trust  I  am  mistaken)  nothing  more  than  an  immoderate 
thirst  for  money  and  notoriety."  Jackson,  HuUreich  Zwingli,  p.  256. 
With  this  compare  the  statement  of  Hubmaier  himself  in  his  recan- 
tation, p.  138  sq.  In  this  issue  of  veracity,  it  seems  most  probable 
that  Hubmaier  spoke  the  truth,  and  Zwingli  a  slander. 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  125 

by  a  widow  named  Bluntschli,  who  with  her  daugh- 
ter Regula  had  been  baptised  by  Aberli  a  week  be- 
fore.' Here  Hiibmaier  had  been  lodged  but  three 
or  four  days  when  his  presence  in  the  city  became 
known  and  he  was  arrested  by  order  of  the  council, 
on  the  ground,  as  Zwingli  puts  it,  "that  he  was 
hatching  out  some  monstrosity" — though  of  this 
there  was  not  the  slightest  proof,  then  or  after- 
wards. 

Some  time  before  this,  Hiibmaier  had  rather  in- 
discreetly written  letters  to  the  Zurich  council,  in 
which  he  had  challenged  Zwingli  to  a  debate  on  the 
subject  of  baptism,  and  declared  that  he  would 
confute  the  Zurich  preacher  out  of  his  own  writings. 
The  council  now  took  him  at  his  word  and  sum- 
moned him  to  meet  Zwingli.  There  were  present 
also  a  number  of  the  Swiss  leaders,  including 
Engelhard,  Leo  Juda,  Sebastian  Hofmeister,  and 
Megander.  Both  Hiibmaier  and  Zwingli  have  left 
accounts  "^    of    this    debate     and     the    subsequent 


•  They  were  fined  for  this  :  Aberli  fifteen  pounds  for  disobedience 
of  the  council's  previous  mandates,  and  five  pounds  in  addition  for 
each  person  baptised  by  him.  The  widow  and  her  daughter  were 
fined  five  pounds  each.     Egli,  Actensammlung,  No.  910. 

^  Hiibmaier,  in  the  Dialogue  already  cited.  Zvvingli's  account  is 
in  two  letters,  one  to  his  friend  Capito,  bearing  date  of  January  i, 


126  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [1524- 

proceedings.  Not  only  arc  these  difficult  to  recon- 
cile, but  it  is  not  always  easy  to  reconcile  Zuingli 
with  himself,  as  he  has  given  two  versions  of  the  af- 
fair, difTering  in  important  particulars.  In  one  letter 
he  says  :  "  I  met  the  fellow  and  rendered  him  mute  as 
a  fish,"  but  in  the  other  he  admits  that  Hiibmaier 
had  a  good  deal  to  say  for  himself  and  that  the 
debate  was  protracted.  Hiibmaier,  in  the  Dialogue 
already  referred  to,  so  conducts  the  debate  as  to 
make  it  appear  that  he  won  a  triumphant  victory — 
that  Zwingli  was  the  one  "rendered  mute  as  a 
fish."  It  is  the  old  story;  has  there  ever  been  a 
religious  debate  since  the  world  was,  in  which  both 
sides  did  not  claim  the  victory? 

But  in  this  case  we  have  also  a  quite  impartial 
testimony  from  a  contemporary  chronicle.  In  the 
course  of  the  debate  Hiibmaier  attempted  to  make 
good  his  promise  of  confuting  Zwingli  out  of  his 
own  mouth. 

"  In  1523  .  .  .  I  conferred  with  you  in  Graben 
street  upon  the  Scriptures  relating  to  baptism ;  then  and 

1526,  the  other  addressed  to  Peter  Gynora^us,  dated  August  31, 
1526.  They  are  printed  in  full,  in  an  English  translation,  in  Jack- 
son's Httldreich  Zwingli,  p.  249  jr/.  The  originals  are  in  Staehelin's 
Biiefe  atis  dcr  Rcformationzeit,  p.   20,  and  Zwingli,  Op.,  Vll.,  i., 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  127 

there  you  said  I  was  right  in  saying  that  children  should 
not  be  baptised  before  they  were  instructed  in  the  faith ; 
this  had  been  the  custom  previously,  therefore  such  were 
called  catechumens.  You  promised  to  bring  this  out  in 
your  '  Exposition  '  of  the  Articles,  as  you  did  in  Ar- 
ticle XVIII.  on  Confirmation.  Any  one  who  reads  it 
will  find  therein  your  opinion  clearly  expressed.  Sebas- 
tian Ruckensperger  of  St.  Gall  .  .  .  was  present. 
So  you  confessed  in  your  book  upon  the  unruly  spirits, 
that  those  who  baptise  infants  could  quote  no  clear  word 
of  Scripture  ordering  them  to  baptise  them.  From  this 
learn,  friend  Zwingli,  how  your  conversation,  writing, 
and  preaching  agree."  ' 

This  was  carrying  the  war  into  Africa,  surely,  and 
must  have  been  most  embarrassing  to  Zwingli, 
especially  as  it  was  not  only  true,  but  could  be 
proved    by   witnesses   as   well    as   by  his  writings. 


'  Fiisslin,  Beyt>'agt\  p.  I,  n.  54,  pp.  252,  253.  In  one  of  his  tracts 
on  baptism  Hlibmaier  also  asserts  that  he  had  similar  confessions,  in 
their  own  handwriting,  from  other  Swiss  leaders.  CEcolampadius 
said:  "Thus  far  we  have  found  no  passage  in  the  Scriptures  that 
would  move  us  to  confess  the  baptism  of  infants."  Leo  Juda  : 
"  We  have  no  plain  word  of  God  about  the  baptism  of  infants." 
Sebastian  Hofmeister  :  "For  the  sake  of  the  truth  we  have  not 
been  ashamed  to  confess  publicly  before  the  Council  in  Schaffhausen 
that  our  brother  Zwingli  is  erring  from  the  right  way,  and  is  not 
proceeding  according  to  the  gospel,  if  he  determines  that  little  child- 
ren should  be  baptised.  I  have  certainly  not  allowed  myself  to  be 
compelled  to  baptise  my  children,  and  therefore  you  do  what  is  ex- 
actly Christian  when  you  introduce  again  now  the  true  baptism  of 
Christ  that  had  been  so  long  neglected."  He  quotes  Capito  and 
Bucer  to  similar  effect.     Hoschek,  ii.,  133  sq. 


128  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

Ncvertheless,  then  as  always,  the  council  gave  the 
victory  to  Zwingli. 

The  formal  hearing  seems  to  have  been  held 
January  13,  1526,  when  (according  to  Zwingli)  the 
council  took  the  ground  that  Hiibmaier  should 
either  depart  from  the  city  or  recant  his  doctrine. 
The  official  record  represents  him  as  declaring  that 
he  accepted  the  validity  of  infant  baptism  and 
promised  thereafter  to  abstain  from  rebaptising.' 
In  the  meantime  (January  3rd)  messengers  had 
arrived  from  the  Emperor  and  Ferdinand,  demand- 
ing that  Hiibmaier  be  delivered  to  them  for  punish- 
ment, but  twice  the  council  had  refused  to  grant 
this  request.  Zwingli  boasts  of  this  as  an  evidence 
of  extreme  liberality,  and  he  is  probably  entitled  to 
make  much  of  the  fact ;  but  possibly  it  was  not  an 
exceptional  liberality  in  this  case,  so  much  as  the 
pursuance  of  the  regular  policy  of  the  Swiss  can- 
tons. It  may  be  conjectured  that  knowledge  of 
these  demands,  and  fear  that  he  might  be  surren- 
dered, had  much  to  do  with  inducing  Hiibmaier  to 
moderate  his  statements. 

At  this  time  he  seems  to  have  been  treated  with 


'  Egli,  Actensammlung,  p.  431. 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  129 

no  direct  violence,  and  all  the  circumstances  confirm 
the  statement  of  Zwingli  that  he  made  an  offer,  of 
his  own  will,  to  recant  his  former  opinions,  and  did 
so  in  his  own  words,  not  in  any  formulae  prescribed 
by  the  council.  It  was  arranged  that  he  should 
publicly  read  this  recantation  in  the  Minster  of  Our 
Lady,  which  was  duly  accomplished,  after  which  a 
sermon  or  address  was  delivered  by  Zwingli.  Then, 
to  the  consternation  of  all,  Hiibmaier  arose,  re- 
canted his  recantation,  and  went  on  to  attack  infant 
baptism,  and  to  defend  the  baptism  of  believers 
only.  He  was  violently  interrupted,  hurried  away, 
and  thrown  into  prison,  where  he  was  treated  with 
great  rigour  for  a  month.  He  complains  of  this  in 
his  Dialogue:  "Me,  a  sick  man,  just  risen  from  a 
death-bed,  hunted,  exiled,  and  having  lost  every- 
thing I  possessed,  they  required  through  the  ex- 
ecutioner to  teach  another  faith."  His  wife  was 
also  cast  into  prison,  without  so  much  as  a  hearing. 
A  considerable  number  of  other  Anabaptists  were 
also  arrested  and  all  were  imprisoned  together  in 
the  Water-tower,  where  they  were  ordered  by  the 
council  to  be  kept  on  bread  and  water  until  they 

recanted. 

9 


I30  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

"  The  imprisoned  [says  Hiibmaier]  were  told  that 
they  would  be  kept  in  the  prison  until  their  death  if  they 
did  not  recant,  so  that  they  would  behold  neither  sun 
nor  moon,  and  that  all  together,  the  living  and  the  dead, 
should  remain  in  tha  dark  tower  until  no  one  remained 
alive,  so  that  in  this  way  all  should  die  together,  perish- 
ing and  rotting  by  the  stench." 

It  would  be  hard  to  believe  that  the  people  of 
Zurich  would  have  tolerated  such  inhuman  cruelty, 
or  that  the  council  were  capable  of  inflicting  it,  if 
of^cial  records'  did  not  fully  confirm  these  state- 
ments. 

It  was  while  suffering  this  confinement,  and 
expecting  the  worst,  that  Hiibmaier  composed  his 
Twelve  Articles  of  Christian  Belief  ,  which  he  printed 
a  year  later  at  Nikolsburg.  These  articles  are  set 
forth  in  the  form  of  a  prayer — possibly  a  reminis- 
cence of  the  Confessions  of  Augustine — and  perhaps 
none  of  Hiibmaier's  writings  is  so  characteristic  of 
the  spirit  of  the  man.  Their  comparative  brevity 
makes  it  possible  to  quote  these  articles  in  full : 

"  [i.]  I  believe  in  God,  Father  Almighty,  maker  of 
heaven  and  earth,  as  my  most  precious  Lord  and  most 
merciful  Father,  who  for  my  sake  hast  created  heaven 
and  earth  and  all  that  in  them  is,  and  hast  made  me  as 


'  Egli,  Actensammlung,  Nos.  934,  936,  937,  133S. 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  131 

thy  loved  child  from  thy  fatherly  grace  a  lord  over  it  and 
heir,  to  remain  in  it  and  live  eternally.  Though  I  con- 
fess that  we  men,  by  the  disobedience  of  Adam,  lost  this 
sonship  rich  in  grace,  this  honour  and  heirship,  neverthe- 
less in  thee  as  my  most  gracious  Father  I  set  all  my 
comfort,  hope  and  trust ,  and  know  surely  and  certainly 
that  this  fall  will  not  be  to  me  injurious  or  bring  con- 
demnation. 

"  [2.]  I  believe  also  in  Jesus  Christ,  thine  only  be- 
gotten Son,  our  Lord,  that  he  for  my  sake  has  expiated 
before  thee  for  this  fall,  and  made  peace  between  thee 
and  me,  a  poor  sinner,  and  by  his  obedience  obtained 
again  for  me  the  heirship.  Also  he  has,  by  his  holy  word 
sent,  again  given  me  power  to  become  thy  child  in  faith. 
I  hope  and  trust  him  wholly  that  he  will  not  let  his  saving 
and  comforting  name  Jesus  (for  I  believe  he  is  Christ, 
true  God  and  man)  be  lost  on  me,  a  miserable  sinner, 
but  that  he  will  redeem  me  from  all  my  sins. 

"  [3.]  I  believe  and  confess,  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
that  thou  wast  conceived  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  without 
any  human  seed,  born  from  Mary,  the  pure  and  ever 
chaste  virgin,  that  thou  mightest  bring  again  to  me  and 
all  believing  men,  and  mightest  obtain  from  thy  Heavenly 
Father  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  was  with- 
drawn from  me  by  reason  of  my  sin.  I  believe  and  trust 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  come  in  me,  and  the  power  of 
the  Most  High  God  has,  as  with  Mary,  overshadowed 
my  soul;  that  I  may  conceive  the  new  man,  and  so  in 
thy  living,  indestructible  word  and  in  the  Spirit,  be  born 
again  and  see  the  kingdom  of  God.  For  thou.  Son  of  the 
living  God,  didst  become  man,  in  order  that  through 
thee  we  might  become  children  of  God. 

"  [4.]  I  believe  and  confess  also  that  thou  didst  suffer 


132  Balthasar  Hijbmaier  [1524- 

under  Pontius  Pilate,  wast  crucified,  dead  and  buried, 
and  all  that  because  of  my  sins,  in  order  that  thou 
mightest  redeem  and  ransom  me  from  the  eternal  cross, 
pangs,  suffering  and  death,  by  thy  cross,  suffering, 
anguish  and  need,  pangs  and  bitter  death,  as  well  as  by 
the  pouring  out  of  thy  rose-red  blood,  in  which  thy 
greatest  and  highest  love  to  us  poor  men  is  recognised. 
For  thou  hast  changed  for  us  thy  heavy  cross  into  a  light 
yoke,  thy  bitter  sufferings  into  imperishable  joys,  and 
thy  death  in  the  midst  of  anger  into  eternal  life.  There- 
fore I  will  praise  and  thank  thee,  my  gracious  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  for  ever  and  ever. 

"  [5.]  I  believe  also  and  confess,  O  Christ,  who  hast 
mercy  on  me,  that  thou  didst  in  sj)irit  go  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  spirits  that  were  in  prison,  that  is,  to  the 
holy  patriarchs,  and  didst  proclaim  to  them  the  new 
and  joyous  tidings,  to  wit,  that  thou  according  to  the 
prophesying  of  the  holy  prophets  wast  become  man, 
sufferedst  pangs  and  death,  hadst  paid  and  satisfied  for 
the  sins  of  all  men  as  they  for  a  long  time  had  desired 
with  great  earnestness,  devotion  and  fervent  zeal,  and 
powerfully  leddest  them  accordingly  out  of  the  prison; 
and  on  the  third  day,  united  together  again  spirit,  soul 
and  body  in  the  grave,  and  like  a  strong  and  powerful 
conqueror  of  death,  hell  and  the  devil,  didst  rise  again 
from  the  dead  for  our  sakes,  so  that  all  who  believe  in 
thee  should  not  perish  but  in  thee  overcome  sin,  death, 
hell  and  devils,  and  obtain  eternal  life  as  thy  brother 
and  co-heir. 

"  [6.]  I  believe  also  and  confess,  my  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that  thou  after  those  forty  days  in  which  thou 
didst  walk  on  the  earth  for  a  testimony  of  thy  joyous 
resurrection,  didst  ascend  into  heaven  and  sit  down  at 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  133 

the  right  hand  of  thy  Heavenly  Father,  in  the  same 
power,  glory  and  praise  with  the  Father,  who  hath  given 
to  thee  all  power  over  all  his  possessions,  in  heaven  and 
on  earth.  There  thou  sittest,  mighty  and  strong,  to  help 
all  believers  who  set  their  trust,  comfort  and  hope  in 
thee,  and  cry  to  thee  in  all  their  needs.  Thou  also 
callest  all  those  who  are  heavy  laden  to  come  unto  thee 
and  thou  wilt  give  them  rest.  Therefore,  O  Christ, 
compassionate  to  me,  there  is  no  need  to  pray  to  thee  in 
this  place  or  that,  neither  in  bread  nor  wine,  for  thou  art 
found  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  thy  Heavenly  Father, 
as  the  holy  Stephen  saw  thee  and  prayed  to  thee.  It  is 
also  in  vain  to  seek  another  advocate.  Thou  art  and  wilt 
be  the  only  one.  He  who  believeth  otherwise  is  in  error. 
"  [7.]  I  believe  and  confess  also  that  thence  thou  wilt 
come  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead  on  the  day  of  the 
last  judgment,  which  will  be  to  all  godly  men  a  specially 
longed-for  and  joyous  day.  Then  shall  we  see  face  to 
face  our  God  and  Saviour,  in  his  great  glory  and  majesty 
coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven.  Then  will  be  ended 
our  fleshly,  sinful  and  godless  life.  Then  will  each  one 
receive  the  reward  of  his  work;  those  who  have  done 
good  will  enter  into  eternal  life,  but  those  who  have 
done  evil  into  eternal  fire.  O  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
shorten  the  days  and  come  down  to  us!  Yet  give  us 
grace  and  strength  so  to  direct  our  lives  in  the  meantime 
that  we  may  be  worthy  to  hear  then  with  joy  thy  gra- 
cious and  sweet  voice,  when  thou  wilt  say,  '  Come,  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for 
you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world;  for  I  was  hungry 
and  ye  gave  me  food,  I  was  thirsty  and  ye  gave  me 
drink,  I  was  a  stranger  and  ye  took  me  in,  I  was  naked 
and  ye  clothed  me,  I  was  sick  and  ye  visited  me,  I  was 


134  Balthasar  Hiibinaier  [1524- 

in  prison  and  ye  came  unto  me.  Verily  I  say  to  you, 
Whatsoever  ye  have  done  to  one  of  the  least  of  these  my 
brethren,  ye  have  done  to  me.'  But  the  fearful  and  un- 
believing, the  excommunicated,  unchaste,  adulterers, 
drunkards,  blasphemers,  proud,  envious,  avaricious,  rob- 
bers, bloodthirsty,  sorcerers,  idolaters,  ■whoremongers, 
their  part  will  be  in  the  sea  that  burneth  with  fire  and 
brimstone.  From  that  deliver  us  at  all  times,  O  gracious 
and  good  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

"  [8.]  I  believe  also  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  proceed- 
eth  from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  and  yet  with  them  is  the 
only  and  true  God,  who  sanctifieth  all  things,  and  without 
him  is  nothing  holy,  in  whom  I  set  all  my  trust  that  he 
will  teach  me  all  truth,  increase  my  faith  and  kindle  the 
fire  of  love  in  my  heart  by  his  holy  inspiration,  and  truly 
kindle  it  that  it  may  burn  in  true,  unfeigned  and  Christ- 
ian love  to  God  and  my  neighbour.  For  that  I  pray  thee 
from  the  heart,  my  God,  my  Lord,  my  Comforter. 

"  [9.]  I  believe  also  and  confess  a  holy  Catholic 
Christian  Church,  which  is  the  communion  of  saints,  and 
a  brotherhood  of  many  pious  and  believing  men,  who 
unitedly  confess  one  Lord,  one  God,  one  faith  and  one 
baptism;  assembled,  maintained  and  ruled  on  earth  by 
the  only  living  and  divine  word,  altogether  beautiful  and 
without  any  spot,  unerring,  pure,  without  wrinkle  and 
blameless.  I  also  confess  publicly  that  thou,  my  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  by  thy  rose-red  blood  hast  sanctified  to 
thyself  the  Church,  art  her  head  and  bridegroom,  wilt 
also  be  with  her  to  the  end  of  the  world.  O  my  God, 
grant  that  I  and  all  men  believing  in  Christ  may  finally 
be  found  in  this  Church;  also  that  we  unitedly  with  her 
believe,  teach  and  hold  all  that  thou  comniandest  us  by 
thy  word,  and  root  out  all  things  opposed  that  thou  hast 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  135 

not  planted;  that  we  be  not  led  into  error  by  any  views 
of  men,  institutions,  or  doctrine  of  the  old  Fathers, 
Popes,  cardinals,  universities,  or  old  customs.  O  my 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  establish  again  the  two  bands,  to  wit, 
water-baptism  and  the  Supper,  with  which  thou  hast 
externally  girded  and  bound  thy  bride.  For  unless 
these  two  shall  be  again  established  and  used  according 
to  thine  institution  and  order,  we  have  among  us  neither 
faith,  love,  church,  oath,  brotherly  discipline,  ban  nor 
exclusion,  without  which  things  it  will  never  be  well  in 
thy  Church. 

"  [10.]  I  believe  and  confess  also  the  remission  of  sins, 
so  that  this  Christian  Church  has  received  keys,  com- 
mand and  power  from  thee,  O  Christ,  to  open  the  gates 
of  heaven  for  the  sinner  as  often  as  he  repenteth  and  is 
sorry  for  his  sin,  and  receive  him  again  into  the  holy  as- 
sembly of  believers  in  Christ,  like  the  lost  son  and  the 
repentant  Corinthian.  But  when  he,  after  the  threefold 
brotherly  reproof,  will  not  abstain  from  sin,  I  firmly  be- 
lieve that  this  Church  also  hath  power  to  exclude  him  and 
to  hold  him  as  a  publican  and  heathen.  Here  I  believe 
and  confess  openly,  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  whom- 
soever the  Christian  Church  on  earth  thus  looseth,  he  is 
certainly  loosed  and  released  from  his  sins  in  heaven. 
Again,  whomsoever  the  Church  bindeth  and  casteth  out  of 
her  assembly  on  earth,  he  is  bound  before  God  in  heaven 
and  excluded  from  the  Catholic  Christian  Church  (out 
of  which  is  no  salvation),  since  Christ  himself  while  he 
was  yet  on  earth,  hung  at  her  side,  gave  and  ordained  for 
his  spouse  and  beloved  bride  both  keys. 

"  [11.]  I  believe  also  and  confess  a  resurrection  of  the 
flesh,  yea,  even  the  body  with  which  I  am  now  sur- 
rounded, though  if  may  be  eaten  by  worms,  drowned, 


136  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [1524- 

frcjzen,  or  burned.  Yea,  and  though  my  temporal 
honour,  goods,  body  and  life  be  taken  from  me,  yet  will 
I,  at  the  day  of  the  joyous  resurrection  of  my  flesh,  first 
truly  receive  the  true  honour  which  avails  before  God, 
goods  that  pass  not  away,  a  body  incapable  of  suffering, 
made  clear  and  immortal,  and  eternal  life.  O  my  Medi- 
ator, Lord  Jesus  Christ,  strengthen  and  hold  me  in  thy 
faith! 

"  [12.]  I  believe  and  confess  also  an  eternal  life  which 
thou,  my  Lord  and  God,  wilt  give  to  thy  faithful  and 
elect  after  this  suffering  life;  that  thou  wilt  endow  them 
with  sure,  clear  and  joyous  beholding  of  thy  divine 
countenance,  and  satisfy  them  in  all  their  desires  with 
eternal  rest,  eternal  peace  and  eternal  salvation,  which 
joy,  delight  and  bliss  no  man  can  express  or  conceive 
here  on  earth.  For  no  eye  hath  seen,  no  ear  hath  heard, 
and  never  hath  entered  into  man's  heart  what  God  hath 
prepared  for  those  who  love  him. 

"O  holy  God,  O  mighty  God,  O  immortal  God,  that 
is  my  belief,  which  I  confess  with  heart  and  mouth  and 
have  witnessed  before  the  Church  in  water-baptism. 
Faithfully,  graciously,  keep  me  in  that  till  my  end,  I 
pray  thee.  And  though  I  be  driven  from  it  by  human 
fear  and  terror,  by  tyranny,  pangs,  sword,  fire  or  water, 
yet  hereby  I  cry  to  thee,  O  my  merciful  Father:  Raise 
me  up  again  by  the  grace  of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  and  let  me 
not  depart  in  death  without  this  faith.  This  I  pray  thee 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  through  Jesus  Christ,  thy 
best-beloved  Son,  our  Lord  and  Saviour.  For  in  thee, 
O  Father,  I  hope;  let  me  not  be  put  to  shame  in  eternity. 
Amen."  ' 


'  Tliis    translation    was   made    by    the    Rev.    Professor    Howard 
Osgood,  D.D.,  of  the   Rochester  Theological    Seminary,  but   some 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  137 

The  closing  paragraph  of  the  above,  like  other 
words  already  quoted,  clearly  implies  that  Hiib- 
maier  was  subjected  to  torture  during  his  imprison- 
ment at  Zurich,  and  a  statement  of  Faber's  confirms 
this  view  of  the  case.'  Nevertheless,  Faber  might 
have  been  wrong,  and  the  admirers  of  Zwingli  have 
been  loath  to  admit  the  validity  of  the  inference 
one  would  naturally  draw  from  Hiibmaier's  words. 
The  affair  has  been  put  beyond  the  possibility  of 
doubt,  however,  by  the  publication  of  a  letter 
previously  unknown : 

"  The  next  day,  [says  Zwingli,]  he  was  thrust  back 
into  prison  and  tortured.  It  is  clear  the  man  had  be- 
come a  sport  of  demons,  so  he  recanted  not  frankly  as 
he  had  promised;  nay,  he  said  he  entertained  no  other 
opinions  than  those  taught  by  me,  execrated  the  error 
and  obstinacy  of  the  Catabaptists,  repeated  this  three 
times  when  stretched  upon  the  rack,  and  bewailed  his 
misery  and  the  wrath  of  God  which  in  this  affair  was  so 
unkind."* 


changes  have  been  made  by  the  author  of  this  biography,  who 
therefore  takes  full  responsibility  for  it,  while  thus  making  his 
acknowledgment  of  indebtedness  to  his  former  teacher  and  present 
much-valued  friend. 

'  Quoted  by  Loserth,  Beilage,  No.  lo. 

*  The  callousness  with  which  Zwingli  records  this  treatment  of  his 
former  friend  is  striking.  There  are  other  similar  cases  in  his 
writings.     For  the  letter,  see  Jackson,  Hiildreich  Zwingli,  p.  250. 


138  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1524- 

By  these  gentle  means  he  was  "allured"  (the  grim 
pleasantry  is  Zwingli's)  into  making  a  more  explicit 
X  recantation  than  before,  which  is  still  preserved  in 
the  archives  of  Zurich,  and  is  believed  by  competent 
judges  to  be  in  his  own  handwriting.  It  bears  no 
date,  but  is  believed  to  belong  to  about  the  middle 
of  March,  and  reads  as  follows: 

"  I  Balthasar  Huobmaier,  of  Fridberg,  confess  openly 
with  this  my  handwriting,  that  I  have  not  otherwise 
known  or  understood  all  Scriptures,  which  speak  of 
water-baptism,  than  that  one  should  first  preach,  after  that 
believe,  and  thirdly  be  baptised,  on  which  I  have  finally 
established  myself.  But  now  has  been  made  known  to 
me  through  Master  Huldrich  Zwingli  the  covenant  of 
God  made  with  Abraham  and  his  seed,  also  circumcision 
as  a  covenant  sign,  which  I  could  not  disprove.  Also 
it  was  put  before  me  by  others,  as  Master  Leo  [Juda], 
Doctor  Bastian  [Sebastian  Hofmeister]  and  Miconien 
[MyconiusJ,  how  love  should  be  a  judge  and  judger  in 
all  writings,  which  has  gone  very  much  to  my  heart;  and 
also  I  have  thought  much  of  love,  and  have  been  finally 
moved  to  fall  from  my  purpose,  namely,  that  one  should 
not  baptise  children,  and  that  in  the  matter  of  rebaptism 
I  have  erred. 

"  2.  For  the  rest,  it  comes  to  me  that  I  am  under 
accusation,  as  if  I  rejected  government  and  say  that  a 
Christian  cannot  sit  in  government  [or]  hold  office — in 
which  violence  and  injustice  is  done  to  me.  I  have 
always  and  everywhere  said  that  a  Christian  may  well 
sit  in  government,  and  that  the  more  Christian  he  is,  th? 


HULDREICH  ZWINQLI. 

FROM  A  MEZZOTINT  BY  R.   HOUSTON. 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  139 

more  honourably  would  he  rule.  This  I  have  proved 
with  many  writings,  which  I  do  not  now  remember. 

"  3.  Again  I  am  accused  as  if  I  would  have  made 
all  things  common,  which  yet  I  have  not  done,  but  I  have 
called  this  a  Christian  community  of  goods:  that  when 
one  have  and  see  his  neighbour  suffer,  he  should  give 
him  alms,  in  order  that  the  hungry,  thirsty,  naked  and 
imprisoned  may  be  helped;  and  that  the  more  a  man 
practice  such  works  of  mercy,  the  nearer  he  would  be 
to  the  spirit  of  Christianity. 

"4.  So  also  to  baptism  I  have  added  nothing,  have 
not  boasted  any  perception  about  it,  neither  have  I  been 
the  first  who  suffered  himself  to  be  baptised,  but  many 
before  me,  even  a  quarter  of  a  year.  Some  likewise 
suffered  themselves  to  be  baptised  before  me  in  Wald- 
shut.  Likewise  also  particularly  have  I  baptised  no  one 
in  the  jurisdiction  and  districts  of  my  Lords,  the  Zurich 
Council — which  has  been  given  out  about  me  untruth- 
fully. 

"5.  Again,  likewise  I  have  never  said  that  I  am 
without  sin,  or  that  I  never  could  sin,  but  always  and 
everywhere  have  I  confessed  that  I  am  a  poor  sinner, 
conceived  and  born  in  sin,  and  shall  always  remain  a 
sinner  till  death.  May  God  not  reckon  to  me  such  sin 
of  mine,  to  eternal  condemnation.  Therefore,  in  such 
things  as  I  am  accused  of,  no  one  should  boast  of  my 
name  or  use  me  as  a  cloak. 

"6.  Thirdly,  since  now  Augustine  and  many  others 
after  him  even  in  our  times  have  erred  in  baptism,  there- 
fore I  beseech  your  wisdom  for  God's  sake,  wherever  I 
have  herein  embittered  or  injured  anyone,  that  he  may 
forgive  me,  as  we  desire  that  God  should  forgive  us  our 
sins.     May  your  wisdom  also  be  pleased  to  remember 


I40  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

my  great  sickness,  adversity,  banishment  and  poverty, 
since  I  have  no  coat  of  my  own  to  put  on,  thus  unclad 
came  I  away.  Also  be  pleased  to  remember  the  great 
wrath  and  fury  which  my  adversaries  have  embraced 
against  me,  and  be  pleased  therefore  to  look  upon  me  in 
mercy  for  God's  sake,  that  as  much  as  lies  in  your  wisdom 
I  may  not  come  or  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  my 
enemies,  especially  as  I  am  an  infirm  man  and  in  this 
infirm  body  cannot  do  without  bodily  care.  So  will  I 
pray  to  God  for  your  wisdom,  and  will  never  forget 
your  Christian  government  my  life  long.  Neither  shall 
any  evil  be  shown  by  me  to  your  wisdom  nor  anybody 
else,  either  with  words  or  works.  This  your  wisdom 
may  truly  trust  me."  ' 

Except  for  the  first  paragraph,  this  is  not  a  re- 
cantation, but  an  apology.  The  first  paragraph  is 
a  guarded  admission  that  he  had  previously  been  in 
error  respecting  infant  baptism  and  rebaptism — an 
admission  that  Hiibmaier  should  never  have  made, 
and  the  making  of  which  must  considerably  modify 
the  admiration  that  otherwise  may  justly  be  enter- 
tained for  his  character  and  conduct.  It  is  only 
just,  however,  to  remind  ourselves  that  fortitude  in 
the  endurance  of  excruciating  pain  is  not  the  gift  of 

'  Stachelin  [I/uUrcick  ZiciugH,  i.,  516)  differs  from  Egli  in  holding 
that  this  is  the  original  recantation  of  December  or  January,  not  the 
final  document.  It  seems  plain  that  Egli's  view  is  sustained  by  the 
closing  paragraph  and  its  appeal  for  help,  which  was  not  likely  to 
have  been  inserted  in  the  first  document.  The  original  text  is  given 
in  Egli's  AcUnsamvilting,  No.  940. 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  141 

every  man.  Let  him  who  is  quite  certain  that  his 
own  fortitude  would  not  give  way  under  torture, 
cast  the  first  stone  at  such  men  as  have  yielded  their 
convictions  on  the  rack. 

It  is  certain  that  Hiibmaier  himself  was  deeply 
repentant  in  after  years  for  this  error.  In  his  Short 
Apology  [Op.  13)  he  says: 

"  I  may  err — I  am  a  man — but  a  heretic  I  cannot  be, 
because  I  ask  constantly  for  instruction  in  the  word  of 
God.  But  never  has  any  one  come  to  me  and  pointed 
out  a  single  word,  but  one  single  man  and  his  followers 
— against  his  own  previous  preaching,  word  and  print, 
whose  name  I  spare  for  the  sake  of  God's  word — who 
against  common  justice  and  appeal  in  behalf  of  his  own 
government,  the  confederacy,  and  also  the  Emperor,  by 
capture,  imprisonment,  sufferings  and  the  hangman, 
tried  to  teach  me  the  faith.  But  faith  is  a  work  of  God ' 
and  not  of  the  heretics'  tower,  in  which  one  sees  neither 
sun  nor  moon,  and  lives  on  nothing  but  water  and  bread. 
But  God  be  praised,  who  delivered  me  from  this  den  of 
lions,  where  dead  and  living  men  lay  side  by  side  and 
perished.  O  God,  pardon  me  my  weakness.  It  is  good 
for  me  (as  David  says)  that  thou  hast  humbled  me." 

Having  obtained  this  recantation,  such  as  it  was 
and  by  such  methods,  the  council  decreed  that 
Hiibmaier  should  depart  immediately  from  the 
country.  It  was  in  fear  of  such  a  decision  that  the 
closing   paragraph    of  the  document  was  written. 


142  Balthasar  Iliibmaier  [1524- 

Z\vin<;li  tells  us  that  he  and  his  friends  interceded 
with  the  council,  that  this  order  should  not  be 
executed,  since  it  would  put  Hiibmaier  in  great 
peril,  both  from  the  other  Swiss  authorities  and 
from  the  Emperor.  Accordingly,  he  was  suffered 
to  remain  for  a  time,  under  close  surveillance,  no 
doubt,  until  a  favourable  opportunity  offered  for 
sending  him  away  so  quietly  that  even  the  citizens 
of  Zurich  did  not  know  of  his  departure.  He  made 
his  way  first  to  Constance,  thence  to  Augsburg,  and 
then,  by  what  means  we  do  not  know,'  to  Nikols- 
burg,  in  Moravia,  where  he  seems  to  have  arrived 
not  later  than  July,  1526.  His  brief  visit  by  the 
way  at  Augsburg  is  chiefly  noteworthy  for  his 
meeting  there,  for  the  first  time,  John  Dcnck, 
whom  he  is  supposed  then  and  there  to  have  won 
over  to  Anabaptism. 

Exciirstis  on  the  Act  of  Baptism  among  the  Anabaptists 

The  baptism  by  Hubmaier  of  three  hundred  from  a 
milkpail,  according  to  the  statement  of  a  contemporary 
record,   naturally  suggests  an  inquiry  as  to  the  method 

'  From  a  letter  of  CEcolanipadius  it  would  appear  that  he  stopped 
also  for  a  time  in  the  Austrian  city  of  Steyer.  A  visit  to  Regens- 
burg,  as  asserted  by  some,  is  possible;  but  Hoschek  (i.,  559)  con- 
founds with  this  visit  (if  it  occurred)  the  circumstances,  already 
narrated,  of  Hubmaier's  first  leaving  that  city. 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  143 

of  administering  baptism  practised  by  the  Anabaptists. 
Affusion  was  evidently  the  method  on  this  occasion, 
and  there  is  no  good  reason  to  suppose  that  Hiibmaier 
ever  changed  his  practice.  His  clearest  reference  to  the 
subject  is  contained  in  his  tract  On  the  Christian  Baptistn 
of  Believers,  in  which  he  says:  "  To  baptise  in  water  is 
to  pour  outward  water  over  the  confessor  of  his  sins,  in 
accordance  with  the  divine  command,  and  to  inscribe 
him  in  the  number  of  sinners  upon  his  own  confession 
and  acknowledgment."  The  first  baptism  among  the 
Swiss  Anabaptists  was  that  of  George  Blaurock  by  Conrad 
Grebel,  and  it  is  said  that  Blaurock  fell  on  his  knees  and 
Grebel  baptised  him — evidently  an  affusion  or  aspersion. 
The  next  recorded  baptisms  were  performed  by  Blaurock 
and  Mantz,  and  in  each  case  it  is  said  that  it  was  done 
from  a  dipper  or  basin  (Egli,  Actensamtnlung,  pp.  282- 
284).  These  baptisms  all  occurred  in  late  January  or 
early  February,  1525.  But  a  few  weeks  later  Conrad 
Grebel,  at  least,  had  obtained  clearer  light  upon  the 
subject.  A  contemporary  chronicler  say:  "Wolfgang 
Uoliman  [or  Uliman,  a  native  of  St.  Gall,  and  afterwards 
active  among  the  Anabaptists  there]  met  Conrad  Grebel 
on  the  way  to  Schaffhausen,  and  in  his  company  [or,  by 
him,  bei  ihnen\  was  so  highly  instructed  in  Anabaptism 
that  he  would  not  be  simply  poured  upon  with  water 
from  a  dish  but  entirely  naked  was  pressed  down  and 
covered  over  in  the  Rhine."  (Kessler,  Sabbata,  i.,  262.) 
This  is  not  merely  a  statement  that  Grebel  immersed 
Uliman,  which  would  be  important,  but  also  a  testimony 
that,  according  to  the  writer's  belief,  such  immersion  was 
the  result  of  complete  instruction  in  Anabaptism — in 
other  words,  that  immersion  was  the  usual  practice  of 
the  well-instructed  Anabaptists. 


144  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

This  baptism  of  Uliman  was  before  March  i,  1525. 
On  Palm  Sunday  Grebel  baptised  a  large  number  of 
people  from  St.  Gall  in  the  Sitter  River — the  only  place 
near  the  city  well  adapted  for  immersion,  and  some  two 
miles  from  the  town.  It  would  be  silly  to  maintain  that 
the  people  walked  that  distance  to  be  sprinkled.  This 
must  be  taken,  therefore,  as  confirmation  of  the  view  that 
immersion  was  fast  replacing  affusion  among  the  Swiss 
Anabaptists.  The  action  of  the  Zurich  Council  on  March 
7,  1526,  in  making  drowning  the  penalty  of  contumacious 
persistence  in  Anabaptism  (Egli,  Adensammlutig^  No. 
936)  shows  a  grim  determination  to  "  make  the  punish- 
ment fit  the  crime,"  which  would  be  meaningless  if  im- 
mersion were  not  a  general  practice  in  the  sect.  That 
this  is  a  correct  interpretation  of  the  decree,  the  words 
of  Zwingli  in  his  Refutation  of  the  Tricks  of  the  Cata- 
baptists,  sufficiently  testify:  "After  that  conference  (the 
tenth,  with  the  others,  public  or  private)  the  most 
honourable  senate  [council]  decreed  that  he  should  be 
drowned  who  rebaptised  another  " — the  exact  words  are, 
aquis  mergere,  qui  merserit  baptismo  eum  qui  prius  emer- 
serat.  (Zwingli,  Op.,  iii.,  364.)  That  the  Swiss  Ana- 
baptists began  with  the  practice  of  affusion,  but  soon 
generally  adopted  immersion,  seems  therefore  to  be  the 
most  probable  conclusion  from  all  the  facts  accessible. 

Elsewhere  we  find  definite  proofs  of  immersion  only 
among  the  Anabaptists  of  Augsburg,  and  in  Poland, 
where  the  practice  was  introduced  in  1575.  It  has  been 
conjectured  that  Swiss  Anabaptists  fled  to  Poland  and 
were  influential  in  securing  the  adoption  of  immersion 
there,  but  documentary  proof  of  this  is  wholly  lacking. 
A  conjecture  rather  more  probable  is  that  the  Anabap- 
tists of  Poland,  having  before  their  eyes  the  practice  of 


1526]  Becomes  an  Anabaptist  145 

the  Greek  Church,  which  has  never  known  any  baptism 
other  than  immersion,  were  influenced  by  this  example. 
The  later  Anabaptists  known  as  Mennonites  seem  to  have 
consistently  practised  affusion  from  the  first — at  least 
there  is  no  case  known  to  the  contrary,  except  the  con- 
gregation at  Rhynsburg,  which  began  to  practice  immer- 
sion in  1620. 


CHAPTER  V 
hObmaier  at  nikolsburg 

I526-I528 

IT  is  not  difficult  to  conjecture  why  Hiibmaier 
^  chose  Nikolsburg  as  his  next  residence.  Mora- 
via was  almost  the  only  province  in  Europe  where 
he  could  hope  to  find  more  than  a  temporary  refuge. 
Not  only  did  this  region  promise  a  comparatively 
safe  haven,  but  it  is  probable  that  a  large  number 
of  Anabaptists  had  already  gone  thither.'  Here 
was  not  only  safety,  but  the  most  fruitful  field  of 
labour  known  to  him.  That  he  should  proceed  at 
once  to  Moravia,  and  begin  his  labours  with  re- 
doubled energy  is  precisely  what  we  should  expect 
of  such  a  man.      His  activity  would  be  stimulated. 


'  If  they  did  not  actually  precede  Hiibmaier,  they  must  have 
arrived  in  large  numbers  at  about  the  same  time,  for  a  few  months 
afterward  they  were  estimated  at  twelve  thousand  (Loserth,  p.  127). 
That  these  were  all  converts,  and  not  in  large  part  immigrants,  is 
incredible. 

146 


[1526-1528]  At  Nikolsburg  147 

no  doubt,  by  memory  of  what  he  had  experienced 
at  Zurich,  and  especially  by  recollection  that  physi- 
cal weakness  and  love  of  life  had  led  him  to  deny 
the  truth. 

He  must  have  felt  that  the  lines  had  fallen  to  him 
in  pleasant  places.  The  Nikolsburg  of  to-day  is  a 
delightfully  quaint  town,  of  a  pronounced  mediaeval 
flavour.  It  is  out  of  the  beaten  track  of  globe- 
trotters, dififiicult  of  access,  and  hence  seldom  visited 
by  the  ordinary  tourist.  The  old  walls  have  disap- 
peared, but  the  city  has  availed  itself  little  of  its 
liberty  to  straggle  into  the  fields.  The  houses  are 
grouped  as  of  old  about  the  steep,  rocky  hill,  whose 
summit  is  occupied  by  the  castle  and  the  church — 
houses  low  and  long,  built  flush  with  the  street  and 
entered  from  the  street  level,  or  at  most  by  one  or 
two  rude  stone  steps;  houses  solidly  built  of  stone, 
with  red-tiled  roofs,  from  which  little,  wicked- 
looking  windows  wink  at  the  foreigner  as  he  passes 
by.  The  bright  and  curious  costumes  of  the  peas- 
ants who  throng  the  streets  on  a  gala  day  are  an 
added  touch  of  mediaevalism,  for  they  are  the  same 
that  have  been  worn  for  countless  generations. 
Little  but  German  is  spoken  in  the  town,  and  the 


148  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1526- 

peoplc  arc  mostly  devout  Roman  Catholics,  though 
a  small  and  new  Lutheran  church  stands  on  the 
outskirts.  No  relics  remain  of  the  short-lived  re- 
formation here,  and  the  name  of  Hiibmaier  has 
completely  faded  from  recollection.  The  historian 
of  the  town,  an  antiquarian  of  some  repute,  had 
never  heard  the  name. 

We  know  as  yet  from  original  sources  too  little 
about  the  reh'gious  history  of  Moravia  prior  to 
1526;  but  that  the  influence  of  Hus  had  been  deeply 
felt  there  is  certain.  There  was  a  strong  evangelical 
party  in  the  province  before  the  arrival  of  Hiib- 
maier, which  had  gained  many  adherents  among 
prelates,  clergy,  and  noblemen,  as  well  as  among 
the  people  at  large.  The  Unitas  Fratrum,  though 
originating  in  Bohemia,  could  almost  claim  Moravia 
as  the  twin  land  of  their  birth,  and  later  they  be- 
came so  identified  with  it  as  to  bear,  to  this  day, 
the  name  Moravians.  The  political  circumstances 
were  such  as  to  favour  an  evangelical  revival. 
Since  the  twelfth  century  Moravia— a  small  terri- 
tory of  only  8,500  square  miles,  a  little  larger  than 
the  State  of  Massachusetts — had  been  a  Margravate 
held  by  the  younger  sons  of  the  kings  of  Bohemia, 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  149 

of  whose  crown  it  was  a  fief.  But  the  royal  power 
had  always  been  weak,  and  Hiibmaier's  coming 
coincided  with  an  interregnum.  On  August  29, 
1526,  Louis  II.  of  Bohemia  was  defeated  by  the 
Turks  at  Mohacs,  Hungary,  and  fell  in  the  battle. 
As  he  left  no  heirs,  in  the  following  October  the 
diet  chose  as  king  the  Archduke  Ferdinand,  of 
Austria,  who  had  married  a  sister  of  Louis  and  was 
in  every  way  the  most  eligible  prince.  The  choice 
was  by  no  means  a  popular  one,  however,  and  it  was 
some  time  before  Ferdinand's  royal  authority  was  es- 
tablished. In  the  meantime,  the  Moravian  nobles, 
always  enjoying  a  large  measure  of  independence, 
were  absolute  masters  of  the  situation,  and  did  as 
seemed  to  them  good. 

The  people  of  Moravia  were  at  this  time  mainly 
Germans,  though  there  was  among  them  a  large 
proportion  of  that  Czech  (Slav)  race  which  in  early 
times  had  settled  both  this  region  and  Bohemia. 
At  the  present  day  less  than  twenty  per  cent,  of 
the  Moravian  people  are  Czechs,  but  it  is  probable 
that  in  the  Reformation  era  the  proportion  was 
much  larger.  Evangelical  views  seem  to  have 
made  progress  equally  among  both  peoples,  but,  if 


I50  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1526- 

we  may  draw  safe  inference  from  the  names  that 
continually  appear  in  the  records,  the  Anabaptists 
were  from  the  first  and  continued  to  be  mostly 
Germans. 

By  the  evangelical  Christians  of  Moravia  Hiib- 
maier was  kindly,  even  warmly,  received.  He  be- 
came a  guest  in  the  home  of  Oswald  Glaidt,  who 
was  then  the  coadjutor  of  the  chief  evangelical 
preacher,  Hans  Spitalmaier,  both  natives  of  Bavaria. 
This  common  nativity  was  an  additional  bond  be- 
tween them  and  Hiibmaier,  who  praises  both  "be- 
cause they  bravely  and  faithfully  held  up  the  light 
of  evangelical  purity,  and  put  it  on  the  candlestick, 
so  as  he  had  known  the  like  in  no  region."  Glaidt 
was  soon  won  to  Anabaptist  views  by  his  eloquent 
and  persuasive  guest,  and  was  baptised.  Spital- 
maier must  have  been  gained  at  about  the  same 
time,  for  shortly  after  this  we  find  him  also  a  co- 
worker with  Hiibmaier.  A  still  more  important 
convert  was  Martin  Goschel,  who  had  once  been 
sub-bishop  of  Olmiitz,  and  later  provost  of  a  nun- 
nery at  Kanitz.  This  latter  position,  with  its  large 
income,  he  attempted  to  hold  in  spite  of  his  adop- 
tion and  advocacy  of  evangelical  doctrine,  and  he 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  151 

had  only  recently  been  ousted  from  it,  resisting  to 
the  last. 

But  a  yet  greater  triumph  was  to  follow.  Nikols- 
burg was  in  the  domains  of  the  barons  of  Lichten- 
stein,  a  Moravian  noble  family  tracing  its  lineage 
back  to  the  twelfth  century,  of  which  house  there 
were  then  two  brothers,  Leonard  and  John.  They 
had  been  well  disposed  towards  evangelical  doctrine, 
and  it  was  due  to  their  encouragement  that  the 
gospel  had  already  made  so  great  progress  at 
Nikolsburg,  They  also  soon  came  under  the  influ- 
ence of  Hiibmaier,  became  convinced  by  his  pre- 
sentation of  the  truth,  and  were  publicly  baptised 
on  confession  of  their  faith.'  Other  noblemen  of 
the  region  were  well  disposed  to  evangelical  preach- 
ing, and  from  the  fact  that  Hiibmaier  dedicated  to 
them  many  of  his  treatises  we  may  fairly  infer  that 
he  expected  at  least  their  favour  and  protection,  and 
was  not  without  hopes  of  winning  them  also  to 
his  party.  Such  men  were  John  of  Brunnstein  and 
Helfenstein,  Governor-General  of  Moravia,  to  whom 
TJic  Reason  Why  Every  Man  should  Receive  Baptism 


'  See  the  Anabaptist  chronicles  quoted  by  Beck,  Geschichts-Bucher, 
p.  48. 


152  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [,52^ 

was  inscribed ;  Lord  Arklcb  of  Boskowitz,  Chancel- 
lor of  Moravia,  to  whom  was  dedicated  the  treatise 
On  the  Siuord ;  Lord  Burian,  of  Kornitz,  whose 
name  heads  The  Form  of  the  Supper  ;  Frederick  of 
Silesia,  the  patron  of  The  Second  Book  on  the  Will ; 
Jan  Uubcansky,  to  whom  the  preface  of  The  Form 
of  Baptism  is  addressed  in  such  terms  as  to  make 
it  certain  that  Hiibmaier  had  great  hopes  of  liis 
adhesion  to  Anabaptism. 

Here  was  a  new  experience  indeed  for  the  Ana- 
baptists! Everywhere  they  had  been  despised, 
persecuted,  counting  themselves  fortunate  if  barely 
permitted  to  live:  here  they  not  only  found  them- 
selves tolerated,  but  saw  their  rulers  actually 
embracing  their  faith,  publicly  avowing  it,  and 
using  their  wealth  and  power  to  promote  the 
preaching  of  a  pure  gospel.  The  golden  age 
seemed  to  have  come  for  them — pity  it  should  have 
endured  for  so  short  a  time!  Little  more  than  a 
twelvemonth  was  Hiibmaier  permitted  to  carry  on 
this  work,  but  into  that  space  he  condensed  the 
labours  of  many  a  lifetime.  So  great  was  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Anabaptists  that  within  this  single  year 
not  fewer  than  six  thousand  persons  were  added  to 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  153 

them  by  baptism — some  say  double  that  number, 
but  that  seems  hardly  credible. 

It  must  not  be  inferred,  of  course,  that  this  was 
all  the  result  of  one  man's  labours.  There  were 
a  multitude  of  other  fervent  preachers  of  the  gos- 
pel; indeed,  it  is  little  exaggeration  to  say  that 
every  Anabaptist  was  an  apostle  and  missionary. 
Hiibmaier  was,  however,  the  acknowledged  leader. 
In  learning,  in  character,  in  eloquence,  he  was  not 
less  fitted  for  leadership  than  Luther  or  Zwingli ;  and 
had  continued  opportunity  been  offered  him,  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  he  would  have  here  accom- 
plished that  which  would  have  left  his  name  by  the 
side  of  the  greatest  preachers  and  reformers  of  the 
age.  If  Luther  had  been  crushed  at  Worms  as 
Hus  had  been  at  Constance,  we  might  now  read 
as  little  of  him  as  we  do  of  Hiibmaier. 

Not  only  was  he  active  as  preacher  and  organiser, 
but  his  pen  was  incessantly  busy.  It  was  a  fortu- 
nate circumstance  for  him  that  a  printer  of  Zurich, 
Simprecht  Sorg,  surnamed  Froschower,'  had  been 
compelled  to  flee  from  persecution,  and  had  made 

'  This  Froschower,  or  Froschauer,  was  the  printer  of  Zwingli's 
early  tracts,  but  had  become  an  Anabaptist,  and  could  no  longer  re- 
main and  conduct  his  business  at  Ziirich, 


154  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [152^ 

his  way  to  Nikolsburg,  with  the  outfit  of  a  printing 
establishment,  and  had  arrived  there  at  about  the 
same  time  with  himself.  Froschower  now  became 
the  regular  publisher  of  Hiibmaier's  tracts,  which 
flowed  from  the  press  in  a  steady  stream.  No 
I  fewer  than  seventeen  pamphlets  and  treatises  bear 
date  of  Nikolsburg,  1526  and  1527,  though  several 
of  these  we  know  to  have  been  composed  earlierj 
A  few  of  these  are  quite  brief,  while  others  are 
booklets  of  some  size.  While  we  have  no  precise 
information  as  to  the  number  of  these  publications 
issued  and  circulated,  we  know  that  it  was  very 
large,  that  they  were  read  far  and  wide,  and  that 
they  had  a  profound  influence  upon  those  into 
whose  hands  they  fell.  The  greatest  efforts  were 
made  to  secure  and  destroy  these  pamphlets,  and 
with  measurable  success,  for  only  a  few  copies  of 
each  issue  survive,  in  some  cases  a  unique  specimen 
only. 

Of  these  Nikolsburg  writings  eleven  are  con- 
cerned with  the  Christian  sacraments,  or  the  ordin- 
ances of  the  Church,  and  no  fewer  than  six  of  them 
with  the  ordinance  of  baptism ;  four  are  apologetic 
and  polemic ;    while  two  are  contributions  to  sys- 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  155 

tematic  theology.  Quotations  have  already  been 
made  from  three  of  the  first  class  of  pamphlets  {Op. 
10,  17,  18)  to  give  an  idea  of  their  nature  and  con- 
tents ;  and  the  passages  that  are  of  personal  interest 
have  been  cited  from  one  of  the  apologetic  tracts 
{Op.  13).  The  others  are  utilised  in  a  similar  man- 
ner in  a  later  chapter  of  this  book,  on  the  teachings 
of  Hiibmaier.  Only  a  few  general  remarks,  there- 
fore, about  this  remarkable  literary  output  of  two 
years  are  in  order  here. 

As  a  man  of  letters,  Hiibmaier  deserves  to  be 
ranked  along  with  Erasmus  and  Melanchthon, — as 
a  man  of  letters,  be  it  noted,  not  as  a  scholar.  He 
has  no  claim  to  be  ranked  among  the  first  of  the 
humanists — his  taste  was  for  theology  rather  than 
for  the  classics,  and  his  learning  was  learning  in  the 
Scriptures.  There  he  was  the  peer  of  the  best 
scholars  of  his  age.  How  thorough  was  his  know- 
ledge of  the  original  tongues,  especially  of  the 
Hebrew,  we  have  no  means  of  determining;  but 
somehow,  whether  from  originals  or  from  transla- 
tions, he  had  managed  to  acquire  such  a  comprehen- 
sive and  minute  acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures 
as  would  have  made  him  a  divine  of  mark  in  any 


156  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1526- 

age.  And  a  ready  memory  kept  these  stores  of 
knowledge  ever  at  his  command,  lie  was  never  at 
a  loss  for  a  passage  to  support  any  contention  of 
his  own  or  to  confute  what  he  supposed  to  be  an 
error  of  an  adversary. 

But  while  this  mastery  of  the  Scriptures  is  cred- 
itable to  Hubmaier,  and  entitles  him  to  a  certain 
consideration  as  a  theologian,  it  is  not  his  chief 
distinction.  It  is  his  power  of  expression,  his  sense 
of  literary  form,  his  art  of  putting  things,  that  sets 
him  alongside  of  Erasmus.  His  style,  considered 
as  mere  Latinity,  is  faulty  enough — indeed,  every 
college  student  now  knows  that  the  Latinity  of  the 
great  Erasmus  himself,  loudly  as  it  was  praised  by 
unscholarly  contemporaries,  was  very  bad  meas- 
ured by  the  classical  standards.  But  as  an  instru- 
ment for  expressing  thought,  Hiibmaier's  Latin 
demands  no  criticism,  and  his  use  of  it  shows  him 
one  who  would  have  been  a  clever  literary  craftsman 
in  any  language.  In  this  literary  characteristic,  he 
has  a  note  of  modernity  found  in  comparatively  few 
of  the  writers  of  his  age. 

The  great  bulk  of  Hiibmaier's  writing,  however, 
is  in  his  mother  tongue,  the  German  then  spoken 


IS28]  At  Nikolsburg  157 

in  Bavaria.  It  differs  somewhat,  possibly  for  the 
worse,  from  the  German  of  Luther,  but  is  unspeak- 
ably better  than  the  crabbed  Swiss  dialect  in  which 
Zwingli  wrote  many  of  his  books.  In  the  best  of 
the  tongues  then  spoken,  Erasmus  would  have  dis- 
dained to  write  even  an  ordinary  letter,  to  say 
nothing  of  a  book  for  the  scholarly.  But  Hiibmaier 
did  not  write  for  the  scholarly  alone  or  chiefly ;  he 
wrote  for  the  common  man,  and  he  had  the  same 
kind  of  power  with  the  masses  that  Luther  showed 
in  his  address  To  the  Christian  Nobility  of  the  Ger- 
man Nation.  The  tracts  that  poured  forth  from 
the  Nikolsburg  press  are  among  the  best  specimens 
of  religious  literature  produced  by  the  sixteenth 
century — strong,  eloquent,  persuasive,  vital. 

The  ethical  tone  of  Hiibmaier's  writings  also 
marks  him  for  distinction  among  the  writers  of  his 
age.  He  is  scrupulously  fair  to  his  adversaries— 
always  fair  in  intention,  and  usually  fair  in  deed. 
He  never  charges  misconduct  and  heresy  upon  his 
adversaries  with  that  light-hearted  carelessness  of 
fact  which  is  characteristic  of  his  age  and  of  most 
of  its  writers — of  Luther  and  Zwingli,  for  example. 
And  the  difference  in  tone  between  his  controversial 


158  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1526- 

writings  and  those  of  the  period  is  marvellous.  To 
read  an  average  pamphlet  of  Luther's,  written  to 
confute  some  adversary, —  IVidcr  I  fans  Witrst,  for 
instance,  or  Contra  Henricuni  Rcgon, — and  then  to 
turn  to  any  writing  of  Hiibmaier's,  is  like  escaping 
from  the  mephitic  odours  of  a  slum  into  a  garden 
of  spices.  It  is  not  merely  that  scurrilous  abuse 
has  been  exchanged  for  courteous  speech, —  the 
whole  atmosphere  is  different.  There  is  a  "sweet 
reasonableness"  in  Hiibmaier's  attitude  toward  men 
and  truth,  a  confident  belief  that  he  is  right,  but  a 
genuine  willingness  to  be  instructed,  which  is  rare 
in  any  age  and  was  unique  in  his.  Of  a  brilliant 
English  scholar  it  was  said,  as  his  fitting  epitaph, 
"He  died  learning";  and  of  Hiibmaier  it  may  be 
said  with  equal  truth  that  each  year  of  his  life  saw 
him  take  a  long  stride  forward,  not  only  in  know- 
ledge of  the  truth,  but  in  that  love  that  is  not  easily 
provoked  and  thinketh  no  evil. 

The  success  of  Hiibmaier's  work  was  considerably 
marred,  if  not  seriously  hindered,  by  controversies 
among  the  brethren  themselves.  The  fact  has 
already  been  recognised  that  there  were  consider- 
able differences   among   the    Anabaptists  from  the 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  159 

first.  One  of  the  most  fair-minded  contemporary 
writers,  Sebastian  Franck,  says  of  them  that  he  had 
found  no  two  who  exactly  agreed.  But  up  to  this 
time  we  may  say  of  them,  with  some  confidence, 
that  if  there  was  any  tenet  in  addition  to  the  bap- 
tism of  believers  on  which  they  agreed  it  was  the 
duty  of  non-resistance.'  Many,  but  not  all,  drew 
from  this  the  corollary  that  a  Christian  man  could 
not  lawfully  be  a  magistrate,  for  the  civil  ruler 
must  bear  the  sword  and  use  it  when  necessary 
against  evil-doers.  This  is  especially  true  of  the 
Swiss  Anabaptists,  with  whom  Hiibmaier  had  been 
most  closely  allied. 

But  there  was  now  coming  into  the  Nikolsburg 
community  a  man  who  taught  a  contrary  doctrine 
wherever  he  went.  This  was  Hans  Hut,  a  native 
of  Franconia,  and  said  to  be  of  Waldensian  descent, 
who,  as  early  as  1521,  had  gotten  himself  into 
prison  for  refusing  to  have  his  babe  baptised.  On 
gaining  his  freedom,  he  went  to  Niirnberg,  where  he 
learned  the  trade  of  bookbinder  and  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  John  Denck.     A  little  later  he  was  a 


'  The  Schleitheim  Confession  is  strong  on  this  point,  and  Kessler's 
testimony  is  conclusive.     Sabbata,  i.,  p.  232. 


I  Go  Balthasar  Hlibmaier  [1526- 

bookseller  at  Wittenberg,  and  when  the  Peasants' 
War  broke  out  he  made  his  way  to  Thomas  Miinzer 
at  Miihlhausen.  Captured  at  the  battle  of  Franken- 
hausen,  where  Miinzer  and  his  peasants  were  over- 
thrown, he  obtained  his  liberty  by  convincing  his 
captors  that  he  was  in  the  camp  as  a  book-peddler 
and  not  as  a  soldier.  His  plea  may  have  been  true, 
but  there  is  plenty  of  evidence  in  his  subsequent 
career  that  he  had  fully  made  his  own  the  chilias- 
tic  and  anarchistic  principles  of  Miinzer.  To  the 
preaching  of  these  he  gave  the  rest  of  a  stormy  and 
checkered  life. 

He  joined  Denck  for  a  time  in  Augsburg,  in  the 
spring  of  1526,  and  was  baptised  by  this  Anabaptist 
preacher,  who  had  himself  but  a  little  before  been 
baptised  by  Hiibmaier.  Up  to  this  time,  though 
opposed  to  the  baptism  of  infants,  Hut  was  not 
definitely  connected  with  the  Anabaptists;  hence- 
forth his  labours  were  confined  to  that  sect — or, 
more  properly  speaking,  to  one  party  among  the 
Anabaptists.  There  had  always  been  certain  of 
*  these  who  rejected  the  tenet  of  non-resistance,  to 
this  extent  at  least — that  the  godly  might  use  the 
sword  against  the  ungodly,  in  setting  up  the  king- 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  i6i 

dom  of  God.  In  other  words,  there  was  always  a 
chiliastic  wing  of  Anabaptists,  who  believed  that 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  comes  not  only  with  ob- 
servation but  by  violence.  By  these  Hut  was 
speedily  hailed  as  a  prophet,  and  had  no  hesitation 
in  proclaiming  himself  to  be  such.  He  was  a  man 
of  striking  appearance  and  powerful  personality, 
nearly  illiterate  but  a  master  of  popular  eloquence. 
While  really  ignorant  of  the  Scriptures,  he  had  that 
glib  command  of  such  texts  as  bore  on  his  own 
favourite  themes  which  often  passes  with  those  who 
know  still  less  for  wide  and  deep  Biblical  knowledge. 
Wherever  such  a  man  went,  he  was  sure  to  be  a 
firebrand. 

Such  he  proved  to  be  in  Nikolsburg,  where  he 
made  his  appearance  toward  the  close  of  the  year 
1526,  or  early  in  1527.  He  proclaimed  that  the 
day  of  the  Lord  was  at  hand.  He  was  the  prophet 
sent  by  God  to  warn  the  ungodly  that  their  over- 
throw was  near.  To  the  saints  he  announced  that 
their  mission  was  that  of  a  chosen  people — to  root 
out  the  wicked  who  then  ruled  the  world  as  the 
Israelites  destroyed  the  people  of  Canaan.  The 
time  of  the  persecution  of  the  saints  was  nearly  at 


i62  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1526- 

an  end;  the  two-edged  sword  of  God's  vengeance 
would  soon  be  put  in  their  hands.  It  was  a  curious 
feature  of  the  teaching  of  these  fanatical  Anabap- 
tists, that  while  they  denied  the  right  of  the  sword 
to  magistrates  and  denounced  all  war  as  "carnal," 
they  believed  that  when  Christ  should  begin  his 
millennial  reign  it  would  be  not  merely  the  right 
but  the  duty  of  his  subjects  to  take  up  the  sword 
and  put  the  ungodly  to  slaughter. 

Even    before    Hut's   coming,    a    small    party    of 

I  fanatical  Anabaptists  had  found  refuge  in  Nikols- 
burg,  holding  views  differing  from  his,  but  har- 
monising with  them  wondrous  well — a  remnant, 
perhaps,  of  Miinzer's  following,  who  escaped  the 
slaughter  of  Miihlhausen  and  wandered  from  place 
to  place  until  they  reached  Moravia.     The  leading 

I  spirit  among  these  was  Jacob  Widemann,  and  his 
pet  vagary  was  community  of  goods  among  Christ- 
ian brethren  as  a  cardinal  principle  of  the  gospel. 
He  had  taught  an  extreme  form  of  non-resistance, 
J  insisting  that  Christians  are  forbidden  to  use  the 
sword  in  self-defence  or  as  magistrates,  and,  as  a 
corollary  to  this,  that  Christians  ought  not  to  pay 

*    taxes,    since    these    are    used    for    the    support    of 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  163 

governments  and  the  waging  of  war.  He  and  his 
followers  called  taxes  "blood  money."  Of  the 
antecedents  of  Widemann  —  who  was  popularly- 
known  by  the  nickname  of  "One-eyed  Jacob" — 
little  is  known,  except  the  statement  of  an  old 
chronicle  that  he  came  from  the  land  of  Ens  (Salz- 
burg), and  had  first  made  Hut's  acquaintance  at 
Augsburg. 

Widemann  and  Hut  speedily  joined  forces. 
Widemann  and  his  adherents  found  little  difficulty 
in  grafting  Hut's  doctrine  of  the  sword,  as  the  ex- 
clusive perquisite  of  the  saints,  upon  their  previous 
tenet  of  non-resistance;  while  Hut  and  his  followers 
were  not  slow  to  perceive  that  if  the  end  of  the  age 
was  at  hand  there  was  little  use  in  private  property. 
There  was  a  natural  afifinity  between  the  two 
parties  —  and,  besides,  they  both  found  themselves 
confronted  by  the  same  formidable  opponent, 
Hiibmaier. 

He  was  too  well  versed  in  the  Scriptures,  and  too 
well  ballasted  with  common  sense,  to  be  carried 
away  by  this  fanaticism.  He  had  never  held  to 
community  of  goods,  though  this  charge  had  been 
falsely  made  against  him,  as  well  as  against  certain  of 


1 64  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [1526- 

the  Swiss  Anabaptists,  l^ut  this  was  when  Zwingli 
and  his  helpers  were  more  anxious  to  discredit 
the  Anabaptists  than  to  discover  and  tell  the  pre- 
cise truth  about  them ;  and  Hiibmaier  had  con- 
sistently denied  the  imputation.  He  was  in  favour 
of  such  community  of  goods,  he  said,  as  prevailed 
in  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  when  not  one  of  them 
said  that  aught  of  the  things  which  he  possessed 
was  his  own,  but  sold  their  lands  and  houses  that 
distribution  might  be  made  to  those  who  had  need. 
So,  he  held  and  taught.  Christian  believers  should 
hold  all  property  subject  to  the  needs  of  the 
brotherhood,  available  for  the  assistance  of  needy 
brothers — a  very  different  thing  from  what  is  gen- 
erally meant  by  communism.  Nor  had  he  ever 
taught  the  extreme  doctrine  of  non-resistance,  for- 
bidden Christians  to  be  magistrates,  or  to  pay  their 
taxes.  Above  all,  he  had  no  chiliastic  delusions, 
he  had  proclaimed  no  wild  exegesis  of  the  prophetic 
writings,  he  had  not  taught  his  followers  to  look 
for  the  immediate  second  coming  of  Christ  and  the 
setting  up  of  his  millennial  kingdom. 

It  is  not  hard  to  understand  the  fascination  that 
these   teachings  of  Hut  and  Widemann  had  for  a 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  165 

despised  and  down-trodden  people.  To  have  it 
apparently  proved  from  Scripture  that  the  time  was 
at  hand  when  Christ  would  appear  in  the  heavens, 
set  up  his  kingdom  on  earth  and  rule  with  his  saints 
a  thousand  years,  and  that  all  enemies  should  be 
speedily  put  under  his  feet,  was  fitted  to  carry 
away  the  ignorant  and  simple-minded,  and  even 
some  of  sufficient  learning  to  have  known  better. 
Or,  if  any  have  difficulty  in  comprehending  how 
ideas  so  absurd  (to  them)  should  find  so  easy  and 
so  wide  acceptance,  let  them  recall  the  reception 
given  to  precisely  similar  teaching  in  one  of  the 
most  intelligent  communities  of  our  own  land,  no 
longer  ago  than  fifty  years.  William  Miller  and 
Hans  Hut  were  theological  twins,  and  there  is  a 
most  instructive  similarity  in  the  character,  recep- 
tion, and  results  of  their  teaching.  Like  Miller, 
Hut  was  rash  enough  to  set  an  exact  day  for  the 
ending  of  the  old  order  and  the  coming  of  the  new 
kingdom — the  second  anniversary  of  the  battle  of 
Frankenhausen.  When  May  15,  1527,  came  and 
the  world  still  stood,  he  was,  again  like  Miller,  quite 
undismayed  by  the  failure  of  his  prediction,  and 
proceeded  to  make  another  with  equally  cheerful 


1 66  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1526- 

confidence,  this  time  fixing  the  catastrophe  for  the 
day  of  the  summer  feast,  Whitsunday,  1529.  Many 
so  completely  believed  him,  in  spite  of  his  first  fail- 
ure, as  to  forsake  their  homes,  sell  their  goods,  and 
throng  him  from  place  to  place,  awaiting  the  great 
day  of  their  Lord's  coming. 

Of  Hut's  preaching  during  this  time,  one  choice 
specimen  has  been  preserved  : 

"  Then  [shortly  before  the  end  of  the  age]  all  the 
godless  will  be  destroyed,  and  that  by  true  Christians; 
if  their  number  [the  true  Christians]  shall  be  sufificient, 
they  will  go  from  Germany  to  Switzerland,  and  to  Hun- 
gary, and  have  no  regard  to  princes  and  lords.  Then 
some  thousands  of  them  shall  assemble,  and  every  one 
shall  sell  his  goods  and  take  the  money  with  him,  so  as 
to  be  sure,  meantime,  of  food;  then  they  shall  wait  until 
the  Turk  comes.'  If  the  Turk  fails  to  strike  down  any 
of  the  princes,  monks,  priests,  nobles,  or  knights,  they 
will  then  be  stricken  and  slain  by  the  httle  company  of 
true  Christians.  But  if  the  godless  shall  march  against 
the  Turks,  then  the  true  Christians  shall  remain  at  home; 
but,  if  many  of  the  princes  or  many  of  the  lords  remain 
at  home  too,  and  do  not  march  against  the  Turks,  they 
shall  be  struck  down  a  little  while  afterwards.  Then  it 
will  come  to  pass  that  the  true  Christians  will  have  no 
one,  but  God  alone,  and  God  himself  will  be  and  remain 
their  lord."  ' 


'  This  ami  what  follows  is  an  allusion  to  an  impending  invasion  of 
Austria  by  the  Turks,  which  indeed  happened,  not  in  1527,  but  two 
years  later.  -Quoted  by  Iloschek,  ii.,  231,  232. 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  167 

The  schism  thus  produced  among  the  Anabap- 
tists and  the  disturbances  caused  by  Hut's  preach- 
ing became  very  serious.  Some  of  Hubmaier's 
most  prominent  disciples  were  carried  away  by  this 
fanaticism,  including  Oswald  Glaidt  and  other 
preachers  at  Nikolsburg.  Even  Goschel  seems  to 
have  gone  over  to  Hut;  of  all  the  former  evangel- 
ists, Spitalmaier  is  the  only  prominent  one  who  is 
known  to  have  stood  by  Hiibmaier  without  waver- 
ing. Something  was  needful  to  be  done  to  check 
the  movement,  and  first  of  all  a  conference  or  dis- 
putation was  tried.  The  leaders  met  in  Bergen, 
but  the  discussion  left  them  farther  apart  than  be- 
fore. Then  the  Lichtenstein  nobles  intervened, 
and  summoned  all  the  preachers  to  the  castle  at 
Nikolsburg,  where  the  whole  subject  was  thor- 
oughly threshed  out  in  their  presence.  By  this 
time  the  Nikolsburg  preachers  had  all  seen  more 
clearly  whither  Hut's  teaching  was  tending,  and 
they  joined  Hiibmaier  in  defending  the  authority 
of  civil  government,  its  right  to  bear  the  sword,  and 
the  duty  of  Christians  to  pay  taxes  for  its  support. 
Whether  the  question  of  the  community  of  goods 
was    also    discussed     is     not    clear.     Hut    stoutly 


i68  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [1526- 

maintaincd  the  teachings  that  he  had  been  propa- 
gating to  be  the  truth  and  the  plain  sense  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  utterly  refused  to  yield.  The  re- 
sult was  that  Lord  Lichtenstein  detained  Hut  as  a 
prisoner  in  the  castle.' 

As  this  action  of  Lichtenstein  was  apparently 
approved  by  Hiibmaier,  the  accusation  was  at  once 
brought  against  him,  and  has  been  repeated  to  this 
day,  that  he  thus  proved  himself  an  inconsistent 
advocate  of  religious  liberty,  and  was  a  persecutor 
when  he  had  the  opportunity.  The  action  of  the 
ruler,  however,  seems  quite  justified  by  the  facts 
as  we  know  them.  Hut  was  plainly  teaching  sedi- 
tion and  murder  —  sedition  as  a  present  duty, 
murder  as  a  duty  in  the  near  future.  No  principle 
of  religious  liberty  requires  that  a  government  shall 
leave  such  a  firebrand  to  go  about  in  the  com- 
munity. There  was  so  much  excitement  in  the 
city  following  this  action  of  the  Prince,  and  so 
vehement  charges  were  made  against  him  for  this 
action,  and  the  conduct  of  the  other  preachers  was 
so  violently   questioned,  that  Hiibmaier  was  con- 


'  The  insinuation  of    Hoschek  (ii.,  234),  that  the    intention  was 
*'  perhaps  to  have  burned  him  at  the  stake,"  is  quite  gratuitous. 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  169 

strained  to  call  the  whole  church  together  and  make 
them  a  long  oration  on  the  matter.  The  other 
preachers  stood  by  him,  and  eventually  the  church 
seem  to  have  been  satisfied  that  the  proper  course 
had  been  pursued.  In  the  meantime  Hut  made 
good  his  escape  from  the  castle.  One  suspects  that 
the  Prince  was  not  averse  to  this  solution  of  the 
matter;  at  any  rate,  some  friendly  hands  let  the 
preacher  down  with  a  rope  over  the  walls  by 
night. 

Hut  made  his  way  back  to  the  city  of  Augsburg, 
but  this  town  had  ceased  to  be  a  safe  refuge  for 
Anabaptists.  Many  were  arrested  and  imprisoned, 
among  them  Hut,  against  whom  the  authorities 
had  been  previously  warned  by  the  council  of 
Niirnberg.  While  imprisoned  in  the  tower,  he  is 
said  to  have  suffered  severe  tortures.  His  death 
was  mysterious.  He  was  found  one  day  in  his 
cell,  badly  burned  and  in  a  dying  condition.  An 
old  chronicle  says  that  the  careless  jailer  left  a  light 
near  the  straw,  which  took  fire.  The  enemies 
of  the  Anabaptists  circulated  a  story  that  he  at- 
tempted to  escape  by  setting  fire  to  his  cell  and  was 
fatally  burned  in  the  attempt.     It  is  impossible  to 


I70  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1526- 

dctcrminc  which  account  is  true;  but  what  seems 
to  be  beyond  question  is  that  his  dead  or  moribund 
body  was  hastily  taken  into  court  and  ordered 
to  be  burned;  and  at  sound  of  the  alarum-bell,  his 
body  was  carried  to  the  gibbet  beyond  the  walls, 
and  there  burnt  to  ashes.' 

Widemann,  as  the  less  dangerous  man  of  the  two, 
seems  not  to  have  been  imprisoned  or  otherwise 
troubled.  He  continued  to  lead  the  party  opposed 
to  Hubmaier,  and,  in  spite  of  the  latter's  opposi- 
tion, the  sentiment  in  favour  of  community  of 
goods  continued  to  grow  in  Nikolsburg,  and  ulti- 
mately this  led  to  the  division  of  the  church  and 
the  emigration  of  the  communistic  element,  but  not 
during  Hiibmaier's  lifetime.  A  more  immediate 
result  was  the  composition  and  printing  of  the 
treatise  0)i  the  Sioord,  in  which  Hubmaier  set  forth 
his  ideas  on  civil  government  with  the  utmost  clear- 
ness, fulness,  and  frankness. 

This  was  the  last,  and  in  some  respects  the  most 
important,  of  his  Nikolsburg  pamphlets.  It  is  a 
less  ambitious  performance  than  his  two  treatises 

'  Newman,  in  his  IHstory  of  Anti-Pcdohaptism,  says  December  7, 
1527,  but  the  Anabaptist  chronicles  make  the  year  1529.  Beck, 
Gcschichts-Biiclicr,  p.  34,  cf.  p.  50. 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  171 

on  the  Freedom  of  the  Will,  but  it  has  a  practical 
value  that  does  not  always  pertain  to  academic 
discussions  in  theology.  The  existence  of  the 
Nikolsburg  church,  and  the  permanence  of  the 
reformation  in  Moravia  were  seriously  threatened. 
The  division  in  the  church  pointed  towards  its 
speedy  disintegration,  unless  the  strife  provoked  by 
Hut  and  VVidemann  could  be  ended.  What  was 
perhaps  more  serious  was  that,  if  the  Moravian 
nobles  should  become  convinced  that  the  majority 
of  Anabaptists  sympathised  with  the  fanatical 
ravings  of  Hut,  they  would  look  upon  the  entire 
sect  as  seditious  and  dangerous  persons,  to  be  sup- 
pressed and  even  punished,  rather  than  encouraged. 
This  was  the  charge  that  had  everywhere  been 
brought  against  the  Anabaptists  by  their  enemies, 
and  at  that  day  it  was  generally  believed  outside 
of  Moravia.  Recent  German  investigators,  like 
Cornelius  and  Keller,  have  done  much  to  free  the 
Anabaptists  from  these  (in  the  main)  undeserved 
imputations.  But  still  more  recently,  certain 
English  writers,'  themselves  advocates  of  modern 

'  Richard  Heath,  Anabaptism,  from  its  Rise  at  Zwickau  to  its 
Fall  at  Munster,  1521-1536  ;  E.  Belfort  Bax,  Rise  and  Fall  of  the 
Anabaptists. 


172  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1526- 

socialistic  theories,  have  represented  the  whole  Ana- 
baptist movement  as  a  splendid  but  unfortunate  at- 
tempt to  realise  a  complete  socialistic  programme, 
a  radical  overturning  of  existing  institutions,  almost 
an  entire  anticipation  of  the  teachings  of  Lassalle 
and  Marx. 

While  the  motives  of  the  recent  writers  are  far 
more  laudable  than  those  of  their  predecessors,  the 
result  is  almost  precisely  the  same.  The  contem- 
porary writers  wished  to  load  the  Anabaptists  with 
obloquy;  their  English  historians  wish  to  crown 
the  Anabaptists  with  honour,  as  the  first  to  attempt 
the  application  of  a  theory  yet  destined  to  be  the 
salvation  of  mankind ;  but  in  either  case  the  Ana- 
baptists are  equally  misrepresented,  and  the  opin- 
ions of  a  few  are  attributed  to  the  whole.  The 
misrepresentation  is  most  serious  when  the  violent 
measures  advocated  by  Hut  and  afterwards  put  in 
practice  at  Miinster  are  represented  either  as  the 
convictions  of  the  majority  or  the  legitimate  conse- 
quences of  the  views  prevalent  in  the  body. 

It  was,  therefore,  to  neutralise  the  effects  of  this 
misrepresentation  throughout  Moravia,  no  less  than 
to  win  to  sounder  ideas  conccrnine  the  teaching  of 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  173 

the  Scriptures  the  erring  Anabaptists  themselves, 
that  this  treatise  On  the  Szvord  was  composed.  As 
the  entire  document  is  given  in  the  Appendix,  it  is 
necessary  to  do  no  more  here  than  call  attention  to 
its  chief  characteristics,  and  briefly  summarise  the 
argument.  And,  first  of  all,  it  is  worth  while  to 
note  carefully  its  tone  and  temper.  Hiibmaier 
found  himself  in  practically  the  same  dilemma  that 
confronted  Luther  a  few  years  earlier,  at  the  time 
of  the  peasants'  revolt.  The  peasants  appealed  to 
Luther's  writings  as  affording  justification  for  their 
claims,  if  not  for  their  deeds,  and  the  Catholic 
writers  hastened  to  charge  upon  him  the  moral  re- 
sponsibility of  the  revolt.  If  the  princes  and  rulers 
of  Germany  had  taken  this  view  of  the  case,  no 
doubt  there  would  have  been  a  speedy  end  of 
Luther's  reformation.  What  did  Luther  do  under 
these  trying  circumstances?  He  lost  his  head  com- 
pletely, and  instead  of  trying  by  expostulation 
and  argument  from  the  Scriptures,  for  which  he 
professed  so  great  respect,  to  win  the  peasants 
from  their  errors  and  bring  them  back  to  their 
loyalty  and  obedience,  he  hastily  composed  and 
printed    his  pamphlet,  Against  the  Murdering  and 


174  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1526- 

Robbing  Bands  of  tlie  Peasants.'  The  violence  and 
coarseness  of  the  abuse  that  he  poured  upon  the 
peasants, — the  justice  of  whose  cause  he  had  ex- 
plicitly approved  a  short  time  before/ — his  eager 
advocacy  of  a  policy  of  extermination  by  the 
princes,  the  bloodthirsty  exhortations  to  the  nobles 
to  show  no  compassion,  but  to  smite  as  long  as 
they  could  move  a  muscle,  disgusted  and  discon- 
certed his  own  friends  and  closest  adherents.  Ever 
since  that  crisis,  admirers  of  Luther  have  been  com- 
pelled to  apologise  for  and  extenuate  his  conduct 
as  best  they  might.  But  Hubmaier  makes  no  such 
demands  upon  his  biographer.  His  tractate,  On 
the  Sword,  is  temperate  in  language  and  thoroughly 
Christian  in  its  tone.  He  said  nothing  for  which 
he  need  blush  or  we  apologise.  No  contrast  could 
be  greater. 

In  truth,  we  see  Hubmaier  here  at  his  best  as  a  con- 
troversialist. The  tractate  shows  great  familiarity  with 
the  Scriptures  and  clear  understanding  of  their  meaning, 

'  Luther's  German  Works,  Erlangen  ed.,  xxiv.,  2S7  .uj,  Walch 
ed.,  xvi.,  91  sq.  This  appears  in  an  English  version  in  Historical 
Leaflets,  No.  4,  edited  by  Henry  C.  Vedder,  Crozer  Theological 
Seminary,   1901. 

*  Luther's  German  Works,  Erlangen  ed.,  xxiv.,  257  sq.  Walch 
ed.,  XV.,  58  sq.  An  English  translation  may  be  found  in  Michelet'i 
Life  of  Luther  {\},o\i\\  tiS..),  pp.  161-180. 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  175 

shrewd  appreciation  of  both  the  strength  and  the  weak- 
ness of  his  adversaries,  good  sense,  tact  and  humour. 
He  cites  one  after  another  the  fifteen  texts  on  which  the 
opponents  of  magistracy  chiefly  relied:  John  xviii.,  36; 
Matt,  xxvi.,53,54;  Luke  ix.,  54,  55;  xii.,  13,  14;  Matt. 
v.,  40;  I  Cor.  vi.,  7,  8;  Matt,  xviii.,  15-17;  Matt,  v., 
38,  39,  and  Luke  vi.,  29;  Eph.  vi.,  14-17;  2  Cor.  x.,  4, 
5;  Matt,  v.,  43-48;  v.,  21;  Luke  xxii.,  25,  26;  Rom. 
xii.,  19,  20;  Eph.  iv.,  15,  and  Col.  i.,  18.  Each  of 
these  texts  is  subjected  to  a  thorough  and  candid  ex- 
amination. Hiibmaier  here  appears  to  great  advantage 
as  an  interpreter  of  Scripture.  His  exegesis  is  thor- 
oughly good;  there  is  hardly  a  word  that  one  would 
wish  to  see  changed;  and  he  points  out,  with  equal 
kindness  and  distinctness,  the  errors  of  his  brethren. 
These  had  been  caused  by  a  too  rigid  literalism  of  inter- 
pretation, and  a  refusal  (or  at  least  a  failure)  to  compare 
Scripture  with  Scripture. 

It  is  by  this  method  clearly  shown  that  Paul  speaks 
of  a  twofold  sword,  the  spiritual  and  the  temporal. 
The  former  is  the  word  of  God,  with  which  the  Christian 
is  to  overcome  his  adversaries.  The  latter  is  borne  by 
the  magistrate,  for  the  protection  of  the  innocent  and 
the  punishment  of  the  evil  doer.  Governments  are  of 
God;  the  magistrate  is  his  minister.  When  Jesus  for- 
bade his  followers  to  use  the  sword,  he  spoke  to  men 
who  had  no  right  to  use  it — they  had  not  been  elected  or 
appointed  for  that  purpose.  He  refused  to  be  a  judge 
— that  was  not  his  office — but  he  did  not  condemn  those 
whose  business  it  was  to  judge.  He  that  takes  the  sword 
without  authority  shall  perish  by  the  sword,  but  not  he 
that  bears  the  sword  according  to  God's  command  and 
order.     A  Christian  ought  to  suffer  wrong  rather  than 


176  Balthasar  Hlibmaier  [1526- 

bring  a  suit  to  right  himself,  but  the  magistrate  and 
judge  are  bound  to  protect  him  from  wrong  and  to 
redress  his  wrongs  unasked.  Excommunication  and 
the  sword  have  nothing  in  common:  one  is  a  spiritual 
penalty,  to  be  imposed  by  the  church;  the  other  a 
physical  penalty,  to  be  inflicted  by  the  magistrate. 
The  magistrate  does  not  hate  an  enemy  when  he  pun- 
ishes; his  sword  is  a  good  rod  and  scourge  of  God.  In 
short,  the  Scriptures,  fairly  interpreted  throughout,  do 
not  condemn  magistracy,  but  sustain  it. 

With  the  departure  of  Hut,  the  chiliastic  excite- 
ment at  Nikolsburg  declined,  and  the  teaching  of 
the  extreme  doctrines  against  which  this  treatise 
was  aimed  ceased.  How  far  Hiibmaier's  arguments 
were  effectual  in  promoting  a  better  understanding 
of  the  Scriptures  among  the  Moravian  Anabaptists 
can  only  be  conjectured.  Whether  because  of  his 
success,  or  for  other  reasons,  controversy  regarding 
the  sword  rapidly  decreased,  and  the  only  principle 
that  remained  as  a  cause  of  division  from  1528  on- 
ward was  the  community  of  goods.  On  this  matter 
Widemann  successfully  maintained  his  ground,  with 
a  following  constantly  increasing  in  numbers  and 
weight.  It  is  possible  that  if  Hiibmaier  had  con- 
tinued his  active  labours  a  few  years  longer,  he 
might  have  won  a  victory  all  along  the  line;  but 


_l      o 
O      z 

^    < 


^.^^u 


1528]  At  Nikolsburg  177 

the  publication  of  this  treatise,  the  preface  of  which 
is  dated  June  24,  1527,  marks  the  close  of  his  minis- 
try at  Nikolsburg.  A  few  weeks  later  he  was  a 
prisoner,  on  his  way  to  Vienna,  where  he  was  soon 
to  meet  his  death. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  TEACHINGS   OF   HUBMAIER 

1524-1527 

A  PREACHER  of  the  gospel  and  for  the  most 
**  part  a  writer  on  practical  questions,  not  a 
speculative  theologian,  Hiibmaier  nevertheless  held 
a  well-reasoned  system  of  theology.  Of  his  writings 
that  resemble  a  systematic  statement  of  his  beliefs, 
one  '  is  no  more  than  an  amplification — it  can  hardly 
be  called  an  exposition — of  the  Apostle's  Creed, 
while  the  other*  is  a  catechism.  His  only  other 
writings  that  may  be  called  theological,  in  the  strict 
sense,  are  his  two  treatises  on  the  Freedom  of  the 
Will.  Elsewhere  in  his  published  works  he  fre- 
quently discussed  theological  questions,  but  in  an 
incidental  and  fragmentary  way,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected of  one  whom  choice  and  circumstances  had 


•  The  T7velve  Articles  of  Christian  Bduf,  Op.  18. 
"  The  Table  of  Christian  Doctrine,  Op.  11. 
17S 


[1524-1527]    Teachings  of  Hiibmaier         179 

combined  to  make  preacher  and  reformer  rather 
than  thinker  and  doctor.  He  was  not  by  any 
means  a  religious  opportunist ;  he  did  not  lack 
definite  theological  ideas  because  he  restrained 
himself  from  giving  them  expression.  To  his  ap- 
prehension, truth  presented  itself  in  sharp  and  clear 
outlines;  it  was  a  well-defined  body;  he  did  not  re- 
frain from  systematic  statement  of  doctrine  because 
his  ideas  were  hazy,  or  because  he  was  indifferent, 
but  because  other  matters  seemed  to  him  of  more 
pressing  importance.  In  times  more  quiet  he  would 
have  given  more  attention  to  theology. 

We  shall  not  waste  time,  then,  if  we  undertake 
to  dissect  out  of  Hiibmaier's  writings  a  skeleton  of 
doctrine,  which  underlies  all  his  teaching  and  gives 
it  consistency,  coherence,  and  firmness.  And  we 
shall  do  well  to  begin  at  the  point  where  he  himself 
began  ;  for  he  was  led  to  his  clear  views  of  Scripture 
truth,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the  independent  study 
of  the  Scriptures  themselves.  Prior  to  1522  he  had 
been  content  with  the  scholastic  theology  of  which 
his  old  master  and  friend,  Eck,  continued  to  the 
last  to  be  so  ardent  and  eminent  an  exponent. 
The  authority  of  the  Fathers  and  great  doctors  of 


y 


i8o  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

the  Church  was  sufficient  for  the  master,  but  the 
disciple  was  led  by  study  of  the  Bible  to  the  rejec- 
tion of  dogma  and  Fathers,  and  indeed  to  an 
entirely  different  estimation  of  the  Scriptures  them- 
selves. As  a  Catholic  he  had  always,  in  a  vague 
and  careless  and  ignorant  way,  regarded  these  as 
the  foundation  of  the  faith,  but  his  personal  ac- 
quaintance with  them  gave  him  a  new  apprehension 
alike  of  their  spiritual  value  and  of  their  religious 
authority.  Thenceforth,  the  rejection  of  all  human 
authority  in  religion,  and  of  every  usage  of  human 
origin  as  well,  and  the  substitution  therefor  of  the 
faith  and  order  of  the  Scriptures,  seemed  to  him 
the  only  possible  and  defensible  course  for  Christian 
men  to  take. 

"  We  should  inquire  of  the  Scriptures,"  he  says  in  one 
of  his  Dialogues,"  "  and  not  of  the  Church,  for  God  will 
have  from  us  only  his  law,  his  will,  not  our  wrong  heads 
or  what  seems  good  to  us.  God  is  more  concerned  with 
obedience  to  his  will  than  with  all  our  offerings  and 
self-invented  church   usages.     .  .     Thou  knowest, 

Zwingli,  that  the  Holy  Scripture  is  such  a  complete,  com- 
pacted, true,  infallible,  eternally  immortal  speech,  that 
the  least  letter  or  tittle  of  it  cannot  pass  away." 


A  Conversation  of  Balthasar  Hiibmaier,  Op.  lo. 


1527]  Teachings  of  Hubmaier  181 

And  he  will  by  no  means  admit  that  some  things 
are  essential  and  other  things  unessential : 

"  For  an  earnest  command  demands  an  earnest  obedi- 
ence and  following.  'Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,' 
Christ  has  not  used  such  precious  words  for  a  matter 
that  may  be  done  or  left  undone,  as  each  pious  Christian 
can  see  for  himself.  But  it  is  just  the  way  of  human 
wisdom  to  hold  as  of  least  weight  that  which  God  highly 
regards  or  commands."  * 

The  most  explicit  and  elaborate  statement  of  this 
supremacy  of  the  authority  of  Scripture  is  contained 
in  the  already  quoted  theses  in  which  Hubmaier 
challenges  his  master  Eck  to  debate."  But,  after 
all,  his  belief  on  this  subject  is  shown  less  by  any 
of  his  formal  declarations  than  by  his  constant 
attitude  towards  the  Scriptures,  which  is  one  of 
reverence  and  obedience.  His  writings  contain 
little  but  quotations  from  the  Bible, — exegesis  and 
exposition.  His  continual  inquiry,  as  each  point  is 
discussed,  is.  What  do  the  Scriptures  say  about 
this?  And  his  treatment  of  the  text  is  candid. 
His  exegesis  is  nearly  always  right — modern 
scholarship  finds  little  to  quarrel  with  in  his  inter- 


'  Ground  and  Reason,  Op.  i6. 
"^  Supra,  p.  8q  sq. 


1 82  Balthasar  Hubmaier  ['524- 

pretations  —  and  even  when  he  is  wrong  he  is  hon- 
estly, not  perversely,  wrong.  There  are  few  writers 
in  the  history  of  the  Church  who  have  searched 
the  Scriptures  with  a  greater  zeal  to  discover  their 
teaching,  or  have  come  to  the  study  with  a  more 
open  mind,  or  who  have  bent  fewer  texts  from  their 
plain  meaning  to  support  a  favourite  theory. 

The  method  of  interpretation  avowed  and  prac- 
tised by  Hubmaier  is  simple  in  the  extreme.  It  is 
to  take  a  plain  text  in  its  plain  meaning,  applying 
to  its  exegesis  the  principles  of  grammar  and  ordin- 
ary common  sense.  In  only  one  case  does  he  yield 
to  the  tendency  to  allegorise,  and  in  that  case  his 
exegesis  is  worthy  of  reproduction  as  a  curiosity, 
though  it  has  no  other  value.  He  is  attempting  to 
prove  from  Scripture  that  the  fall  of  the  body  is 
irrecoverable  and  fatal,  while  that  of  the  soul  is  half 
recoverable  and  innocuous,  and  he  does  it  thus : 

"  Adam,  the  image  {figur)  of  the  soul,  as  Eve  is  the 
image  of  the  body,  would  rather  not  have  eaten  of  the 
fruit  of  the  tree.  He  was  not  tem])ted  by  the  serpent, 
but  Eve  was  tempted.  He  knew  that  tlie  speech  of  the 
serpent  contradicted  the  word  of  Clod,  and  yet  he  chose 
to  eat  of  the  fruit  against  his  own  conscience  (gioisse/i), 
so  as  not  to  grieve  his  rib  and  his  body.  Eve,  but  he 


1527]  Teachings  of  Hiibmaier  183 

himself  would  rather  not  have  yielded.  Since  he  then 
obeyed  Eve  rather  than  God,  he  lost  the  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil,  so  that  he  cannot  will  or  choose  the  good, 
and  cannot  reject  or  renounce  the  evil.  Consequently 
nothing  pleased  him  except  that  which  pleased  his  Eve, 
that  is,  his  body."  ' 

Emphatic  and  absolute  was  his  repudiation  of  the 
Romanist's  contention  that  an  infallible  interpreter 
(the  Church)  is  necessary,  or  else  the  Scriptures 
will  lead  men  astray.  The  Church  is  only  the  col- 
lected Fathers  and  doctors,  and  if  these  individually 
do  not  know  the  Scriptures  they  do  not  and  cannot 
collectively  know  them.  "They  well  know,"  he 
says,  "that  a  single  woman — such  as  the  pious 
Christian  woman  Argula  von  Stauff — knows  more 
of  the  divine  word  than  such  red-capped  ones  will 
ever  see  and  lay  hold  of."  The  humblest  believer 
is  able  to  understand  the  Scriptures,  so  much  at  any 
rate  as  is  necessary  to  salvation,  and  it  is  his  duty 
to  learn  this  by  his  own  study  of  the  word,  not  to  take 
it  at  second-hand  from  anybody.  The  possibility 
of  error  in  thus  interpreting  the  divine  word  is  ad- 
mitted, but  this  is  due  for  the  most  part  to  the  ob- 
scurity or  brevity  of  certain  passages.    The  remedy 

*  Freedom  of  the  Will,  Op.  23. 


1 84  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1524- 

is  to  recognise  that  Scripture  can  be  interpreted 
only  by  Scripture.  If  wc  put  beside  these  obscure 
or  brief  passages  other  passages  on  the  same  subject, 
and  bind  them  together  like  wax  candles,  and  light 
them  all  at  once,  then  the  clear  and  pure  splendour 
of  the  Scriptures  must  shine  forth.'  In  this  way. 
the  believer  who  surrenders  himself  to  the  guidance 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  will  be  led  into  all  the  truth. 

In  Theology  proper — the  doctrine  of  God — Hiib- 
maier  was  orthodox  according  to  the  standards  of 
Nicaea  and  Chalcedon.  There  is  no  trace  in  his 
writings  of  the  anti-Trinitarian  theories  taught  by 
Denck  and  attributed  to  Hatzer.^  He  declares  his 
belief  in  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  the  highest 
good,  all-wise  and  all-merciful  —  his  wisdom  and 
power  shown  in  his  creation  and  ruling  of  the  world, 
his  mercy  in  the  sending  of  his  only  begotten  Son. 
This  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  is  true  God  and  man,  con- 
ceived of  the  Holy  Ghost,  born  of  Mary,  the  pure 
and  ever  chaste  Virgin ;  and  the  Son  of  the  living 
God  thus  became  man  that  through  him  we  might 


^Simple  Explanation  of  the  words,  "  This  is  my  Body."     Op.  9. 

^  The  book  said  to  contain  Hatzer's  heretical  views  was  burned  by 
Capito,  and  it  is  impossible  now  to  judge  whether  the  accusation 
was  just  or  not. 


1527]         Teachings  of  Hubmaier  185 

become  children  of  God.  After  his  passion  and 
death,  Jesus  Christ  rose  from  the  dead,  ascended 
into  heaven,  and  sits  at  the  right  hand  of  his 
Father,  "in  the  same  power,  glory  and  praise  with 
the  Father,  as  our  only  intercessor,  mediator  and 
propitiator  before  the  Father.  There  he  sits, 
mighty  and  strong,  to  help  all  believers  who  put 
their  trust  in  him,  and  it  is  in  vain  to  seek  another 
Advocate."'  This  is  the  longest  single  passage 
in  Hiibmaier's  writings  on  the  subject  of  Christ's 
divinity,  and  he  puts  into  it  matters  commonly 
discussed  under  the  head  of  Soteriology,  as  well  as 
those  that  immediately  pertain  to  Christ's  relation 
to  the  Father.  Of  the  Holy  Spirit  he  only  says 
that  he  "proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son, 
and  yet  with  them  is  the  only  and  true  God,  who 
sanctifies  all  things,  and  without  him  is  nothing 
holy,"  and  who  teaches  believers  all  truth. 

The  election  of  grace  is  not  formally  discussed  in 
any  writing,  but  is  often  touched  upon  in  the 
treatises  on  the  Freedom  of  the  Will.  There  seems 
to  be  some  confusion  of  ideas,  however,  and  it  is 
tolerably    plain    that    the    subject    had    not   been 


'  Twelve  Articles,  Op.  i8. 


1 86  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [1524- 

thought  through  with  the  thoroughness  characteris- 
tic of  the  Institutes  of  Calvin.  It  is  indeed  only 
fair  to  bear  in  mind  that  until  that  wonderful  theo- 
logical treatise  appeared,  the  Reformation  theology 
had  not  become  clear  and  consistent  on  this  matter. 
Where  even  Melanchthon  hesitated  and  stumbled, 
we  need  not  be  surprised  that  another's  utterances 
should  be  equivocal.  Hiibmaier  teaches  that  all 
things  take  place  according  to  the  will  of  God,  but 
a  distinction  is  drawn  between  the  "benevolent" 
and  the  "permissive"  will.  The  benevolent  will  of 
God  is  the  will  of  his  mercy — he  wills  all  men  to  be 
saved ;  the  permissive  will  is  that  those  who  will 
not  hear  Christ  he  leaves  to  the  consequences  of 
their  refusal.  If  God  has  specially  elected  some  to 
salvation,  this  is  a  secret  decree,  and  it  is  vain  for 
us  to  probe  the  divine  secrets.  It  is  blasphemous 
to  maintain  that  men  sin  and  are  lost  in  fulfilment 
of  a  divine  decree,  and  not  of  their  own  choice. 
This  view  he  sustained  by  exposition  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  he  did  not  shrink  from  those  that  seem 
opposed  to  his  position : 

God  has  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy,  and 
whom   he    will    he    hardens'     (Rom.    ix.,    i8).      These 


1527]         Teachings  of  Hiibmaier  187 

words  are  the  utterances  of  the  ahnighty  and  secret  will 
of  God,  which  is  pledged  to  no  one,  nor  anything,  and 
therefore  he  can  without  injustice  have  mercy  on  whom 
he  will,  or  condemn  whom  he  will.  This  will  the  school- 
men call  the  '  omnipotent '  will,  a  will  that  no  one  can 
resist.  Yes,  God  has  the  power  and  the  right  to  make 
of  us  a  vessel,  either  for  honour  or  dishonour,  without 
our  being  able  to  reply  and  say,  '  Why  hast  thou  made 
us  so? '  Besides  this  will,  however,  we  find  another  re- 
vealed will  of  God,  according  to  which  God  wills  that  all 
men  should  be  redeemed  and  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth.  Christ  himself  has  plainly  made  known  this 
will  in  the  words,  '  For  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he 
gave  his  only-begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believes  in 
him  might  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life  '  (John  iii., 
16).  '  He  suffered  for  our  sins,  and  not  for  our  sins 
only,  but  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.  He  is  also 
the  true  light,  that  lights  every  man  that  comes  into  the 
world.  To  them  that  received  him  he  gave  power  to  be- 
come sons  of  God.'  Therefore  he  has  commanded  us  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,  that  every  one  who 
receives  it,  who  believes  and  is  baptised  may  be  saved. 
Hence  it  follows  that  according  to  his  revealed  will  God 
hardens,  darkens  or  condemns  no  one  and  nobody,  un- 
less it  be  one  who  of  his  own  will  and  wickedness  will  be 
hardened,  darkened  and  condemned,  and  that  is  those 
people  to  whom  Christ  comes  as  to  his  own  and  they  re- 
ceive him  not.  When,  therefore,  it  is  said  in  the  Scrip- 
tures that  no  one  can  resist  God's  will,  the  reference  is 
not  to  the  revealed,  but  to  the  secret  will  of  God.  But 
any  one  who  does  not  observe  this  distinction  gets  into 
many  difhculties  and  errors. 

"  The  revealed  will  of  God  the  schoolmen  call  the 


1 88  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

'  ordered  '  will,  not  as  though  the  secret  will  were  with- 
out order,  for  everything  that  God  wills  and  does  is  right 
and  good,  but  he  himself  is  subject  to  no  rule,  but  his 
will  itself  is  the  rule  of  all  things.  The  schoolmen  call 
that  will  ordered,  because  it  is  fulfilled  according  to  the 
word  of  Scripture,  in  which  he  has  revealed  his  will; 
and  so  we  speak  also  of  the  '  secret '  and  '  revealed ' 
will  of  God,  not  as  though  there  were  a  double  will  in 
God,  but  the  Scripture  speaks  so  in  order  to  accommo- 
date itself  to  human  weakness,  that  we  may  know  that 
although  God  is  almighty  and  can  do  all  things  by  his 
power,  yet  he  will  not  deal  with  us  poor  creatures  ac- 
cording to  his  omnipotence,  but  according  to  his  mercy, 
which  he  has  shown  by  his  Son.  God  wills  that  all  men 
should  be  saved  (i  Tim.  ii.,  4).  Who  then  can  resist 
the  will  of  God  ?  '  Nay,  but,  O  man,  who  art  thou  that 
repliest  against  God  ?  Shall  the  thing  formed  say  to 
him  who  formed  it,  Why  hast  thou  made  me  thus  ?  ' 
(Rom.  ix.,  20).  If  then  God  wills  that  all  men  should 
be  saved,  it  must  be  done  according  to  his  will,  and 
therefore  the  question  is  whether  we  will  or  not."  ' 

It  will  not  seem  entirely  inexplicable  to  one 
who  has  read  carefully  this  extract,  that  Hiibmaier 
should  be  claimed  as  an  advocate  of  their  theologies, 
with  equal  confidence,  by  both  Arminians  and  Cal- 
vinists.  In  the  tenet  that  afterwards  became  the 
shibboleth  of  Calvinism,  an  atonement  limited  to 
the  elect,  the  sympathies  of  Hiibmaier  would  cer- 


Freedom  of  the  Will,  Op.  23;  Hoschek,  ii.,  154. 


1527]         Teachings  of  Hlibmaier  189 

tainly  seem  to  be  plainly  with  the  Arminians.  He 
would,  however,  find  himself  in  congenial  company 
among  those  who  to-day  call  themselves  "mod- 
erate" Calvinists.  One  thing  is  certain,  he  was 
not  an  antinomian : 

"  Grace  comes  to  us,  not  from  us,  so  that  no  one  can 
boast  except  of  the  merits  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Whoever  maintains  that  God  will  have  sin,  does  not 
know  what  sin  is.  If  any  one  says,  '  If  God  did  not  will 
it,  I  would  not  sin,'  I  affirm,  on  the  contrary,  that  God 
does  not  will  that  we  sin.  We  set  ourselves  in  opposition 
to  his  revealed  will.  We  ought  not  to  sin  in  order  that 
the  mercy  of  God  may  be  more  richly  displayed,  but  we 
ought  not  to  sin  that  we  may  not  make  ourselves  un- 
worthy of  mercy,  and  expose  ourselves  to  the  penalties 
of  divine  justice.' 

The  people  have  learned  only  two  things, 
without  bettering  their  lives:  the  first,  in  that  they  say, 
*  We  believe,  faith  saves  us  ' ;  the  second,  '  By  ourselves 
we  can  do  no  good.'  Now  both  are  true.  But  under 
the  cloak  of  these  half-truths  all  wickedness,  unfaithful- 
ness and  unrighteousness  has  won  the  upper  hand,  and 
brotherly  discipline  in  the  meantime  has  grown  more 
cold  in  many  than  before  in  a  thousand  years.  Yea  it  is 
true  and  is  fulfilled,  the  common  proverb:  '  The  older 
the  worse.'  '  No  better,  but  much  worse.'  '  The  older 
the  colder.'  '  The  longer  the  world  stands  the  worse  it 
is.'  This  stroke  we  must  suffer  from  the  godless,  but 
it  cries  to  God  that  we  suffer  this  because  of  our  own 


'  Freedom  of  the  Will,  Op.  23. 


iQo  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr  [1524- 

guilt.  For  we  would  all  be  Christians  and  evangelical 
by  taking  wives  and  eating  flesh,  never  sacrificing,  never 
fasting,  by  l)lasphemy,  usury,  lying,  deceit,  oppression, 
trickery,  compulsion,  driving,  stealing,  robbery,  burning, 
playing,  dancing,  banqueting,  idleness,  whoring,  adul- 
tery, seduction  of  girls,  tyranny,  strangling,  killing.  The 
lightness  and  freedom  of  the  flesh  sits  on  the  topmost 
bench;  on  the  uppermost  seat  the  pride  of  this  world 
reigns,  sings  and  triumphs  in  all  things.  No  Christian 
shines  forth  among  all  men.  Brotherly  love  and  faith  is 
wholly  extinguished,  and  all  this,  sad  to  say,  takes  place 
under  the  seeming  of  the  gospel. 

"  For,  as  soon  as  you  say  to  such  evangelical  people, 
'  It  is  written,  brother,  "  Cease  from  evil  and  do  good,"  ' 
he  immediately  answers,  '  It  is  written,  "  We  cannot  do 
anything  good."  All  things  take  place  by  the  destiny 
of  God  and  of  necessity.'  They  mean  by  this  that  it  is 
permitted  them  to  sin.  If  you  say  further,  '  It  is  writ- 
ten, "Those  that  do  evil  shall  go  into  eternal  fire,"  ' 
straightway  a  girdle  made  of  fig-leaves  is  found  to  cover 
their  crime,  and  they  say,  '  It  is  written,  "  Faith  alone 
saves,  and  not  our  works."  '  With  such  subtleties  we  are 
nevertheless  good  evangelicals,  and  know  how  to  quote, 
flourish  and  bounce  around  in  a  masterly  way  with  the 
holy  Scriptures — as  the  friends  of  Job,  yea  as  the  devil 
(Matt,  iv.) — for  the  defence  of  our  freedom  and  the 
sauciness  of  the  flesh."  ' 

To  comprehend  Hubmaier's  Anthropology,  it  is 
necessary  to  understand  at  the  outset  that  he  be- 
lieves the  Scriptures  to  teach  clearly  the  trichoto- 

'  On  Brotherly  Discipline,   Op.  2i. 


1527]         Teachings  of  Hubmaier  191 

mous  nature  of  man.  Here  for  once  he  falls  into 
an  exegesis  that  is  puerile.  "And  I  pray  God  your 
whole  spirit  and  soul  and  body  be  preserved  blame- 
less unto  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  "  (i 
Thess.  v.,  23)  is  his  favourite  text.  And  he  does 
not  hesitate  to  argue  from  this  that  the  spirit  is 
in  different  case  from  the  body  and  soul  since  the 
fall,  because  the  apostle  says  here  "the  whole 
spirit,"  but  does  not  say  "the  whole  soul  "  or  "the 
whole  body,"  for  what  has  once  fallen  and  been 
broken  to  pieces  is  no  longer  whole !  It  was  not 
Hiibmaier's  fault  but  his  misfortune  that  he  was  not 
a  Greek  scholar,'  yet  a  glance  at  the  Vulgate  from 
which  he  generally  quoted  should  have  been  quite 
sufficient  to  show  the  untenableness  of  such  exe- 
gesis: 2it  integer  spiritiis  vester  et  anivia  ct  corpus 
sine  giierela  in  advcntii  Domini  nostri  jfesii  Christi 
servetnr — this,  equally  with  the  Greek,  should  be 
rendered,  "may  your  spirit  and  soul  and  body  be 
preserved  whole,  without  blame,  at  the  coming  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

This  is  a  bad  beginning,  and  what  follows  is  not 


'  It  is  claimed  in  his  behalf  that  he  knew  both  Greek  and  Hebrew, 
but  it  is  certain  that  he  made  little  or  no  use  of  the  original  texts. 


192  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [15-M- 

much  better.  Adam,  says  our  author,  was  created 
pure,  and  entirely  free  in  the  choice  of  good  and 
evil,  but  when  he  sinned  he  lost  this  freedom,  not 
only  for  himself,  but  for  all  his  descendants.  But 
fully  to  understand  what  this  implies,  we  need  to 
distinguish  a  threefold  will :  the  will  of  the  body, 
the  will  of  the  soul,  the  will  of  the  spirit.  The 
body  became  by  Adam's  sin  corrupted,  so  that  it 
can  do  nothing  but  sin.  The  soul  also  participated 
in  this  fall :  it  became  so  wounded  and  sick  that  it 
cannot  of  itself  choose  the  good  and  resist  the  evil. 
The  spirit  participated  in  the  effects  of  the  fall, 
since  it  is  a  prisoner  in  the  corrupted  body,  but  it 
did  not  participate  in  the  offence  of  Adam,  for  it 
did  not  yield  to  the  sin  of  disobedience.  In  his 
catechism,  where  this  question  is  of  necessity  more 
briefly  discussed,  there  is  a  summary  of  his  funda- 
mental doctrine  regarding  human  nature  that  is 
admirable  in  its  point  and  clearness: 

"To  sum  up  then:  God  made  us  free  in  body,  soul 
and  spirit.  This  freedom  and  goodness  became,  by  the 
disobedience  of  Adam,  captive  in  the  spirit,  wounded  in 
the  soul,  and  corrupted  in  the  body.  Hence,  we  are 
conceived  and  born  in  sin,  children  of  wrath.  If  we  are 
to  become  again  free  in  spirit,  sound  in  soul,  uninjured 


1527]         Teachings  of  Hlibmaier  193 

in  body,  in  consequence  of  the  fall,  it  must  be  through 

a  new  birth,  without  which,  Christ  says,  we  cannot  enter 
the  kingdom  of  God."  ' 

It  is  evident  that  what  Hubmaier  sought  was  \ 
escape  from  the  paralysing  Augustinianism  of 
Luther;  and  he  attempted  to  work  out  a  theory 
that  should  make  a  reality  and  not  an  empty  form 
of  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  This  he  believed 
he  had  secured  by  making  the  spirit  an  unwilling 
partner  in  the  sin  of  Adam,  and  therefore  exempted 
in  a  measure  from  the  results  of  sin.  Hence,  while 
the  will  of  the  body  and  the  will  of  the  soul  are 
no  longer  free,  the  will  of  the  spirit  is  free.  It  is 
only  so  that  deliverance  from  his  sinful  state  is  pos- 
sible to  man,  through  the  hearing  of  the  gospel,  as  ^ 
he  goes  on  to  argue  at  length : 

"  'But  the  natural  man  receives  not  the  things  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolishness  to  him,  neither 
can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  dis- 
cerned. But  he  that  is  spiritual  judgeth  all  things,  yet 
he  himself  is  judged  by  no  man  '  (i  Cor.  ii.,  14,  15). 
Here  you  see,  Christian  reader,  the  perfection  of  the 
human  spirit,  since  it  judges  all  things,  even  the  wounds 
of  the  soul.  Likewise  you  see  that  the  body  and  the 
soul  are  severely  wounded,  and  that  the  spirit  only  has 


^  Ein  Christcnnliche  Leertafel,  Op.  II. 
13 


194  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1524- 

preserved  the  hereditary  righteousness  in  which  it  was 
created  from  the  beginning.  In  relation  to  man  who  is 
redeemed  by  Christ,  we  find  that  the  body  is  still 
wretched,  but  that  the  spirit  is  joyful,  willing  and  de- 
voted to  every  good  thing,  yet  the  soul  is  sad  and 
troubled  because  it  stands  between  the  body  and  the 
spirit  and  does  not  know  which  way  to  turn,  as  though 
blind  and  not  understanding  heavenly  things  by  natural 
faculties.  But  when  it  is  awakened  by  the  word  of  (iod 
from  the  Heavenly  Father,  and  when  it  is  encouraged 
and  led  through  much  consolation,  and  is  held  by  the 
Son  of  God  and  enlightened  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  dis- 
criminates between  good  and  bad,  has  its  lost  freedom 
again,  can  also  freely  and  willingly  obey  the  Spirit,  and 
will  choose  the  good  as  once  when  it  was  in  Paradise. 

"All  this  the  word  of  God  effects  in  the  soul.  There- 
fore David  exclaims:  '  He  sent  his  word  and  made  them 
whole'  (Ps.  cvii.,  20).  Therefore  Christ  says:  'If  ye 
continue  in  my  word,  ye  are  truly  my  disciples;  and  ye 
will  know  the  truth  and  the  truth  will  make  you  free  ' 
[John  viii.,  31,  32].  Therefore  let  every  one  who  has 
ears  to  hear,  hear  that  we  have  become  free  again  by  the 
word  and  truth  sent  to  us  from  God  through  Christ.  In 
this  way  real  health  and  liberty  are  restored  to  man  again. 
Now,  too,  the  soul  is  free  and  can  obey  either  the  spirit 
or  the  body,  but  if  it  obeys  the  body  it  becomes  body, 
if  the  spirit,  spirit.  Further,  it  can  command  the  body, 
and  tame  it  to  make  it  go  into  the  fire  for  the  sake  of 
Christ's  name  with  the  soul  and  spirit,  though  against  its 
own  desire.  And  although  we  find  in  all  our  conduct 
many  weaknesses  and  imperfections,  the  soul  is  not 
responsible  for  them,  but  the  body,  that  is  an  evil 
instrument  and  a  vessel  empty  of  all  that  is  good. 


1527]         Teachings  of  Hiibmaier  195 

"  The  commandment  is  given  to  the  spirit  as  a  help,  a 
witness  against  sin;  to  the  soul  as  a  light  to  learn  the 
way  of  piety,  and  to  the  body  for  the  knowledge  of  sin. 
But  when  the  body  hears  the  law  it  is  terrified,  and  from 
fright  all  the  hair  stands  on  end.  The  spirit  is  in  a 
jubilee  of  joy,  and  the  believing  soul  thanks  God  and 
praises  him  for  giving  him  a  light  to  its  feet.  However, 
if  our  spirit  is  to  be  free  and  our  soul  well,  and  the  fall 
of  the  body  harmless,  all  this  must  necessarily  be  accom- 
plished through  the  new  birth  in  Christ.  If  that  is  not 
accomplished,  we  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
According  to  the  apostle,  God  creates  us  freely  by  the 
word  of  truth,  that  we  may  be  the  beginning  of  creation, 
that  is,  the  first  fruits  of  the  creation,  and  in  this  word 
we  are  again  free  and  sound,  so  that  there  is  no  longer 
anything  worthy  of  condemnation  in  us.  Christ  has 
made  the  fall  of  Adam  entirely  harmless  to  us,  and 
therefore  no  one  should  complain  any  more  of  Adam, 
and  excuse  his  sins  by  his  fall,  as  everything  has  been 
recovered  for  us  that  we  lost  by  the  sin  of  Adam.  For 
Christ  has  merited  by  his  Spirit  that  our  spirit's  prison 
(the  body)  does  it  no  harm.  By  his  soul  he  has  merited 
for  our  soul,  that  it  is  enlightened  by  his  divine  word; 
and  by  his  body  for  our  body,  that  after  the  resurrection 
it  shall  be  glorious  and  immortal.  For  this  reason, 
whoever  sins  now  himself  bears  the  penalty  of  his  sins, 
because  he  has  himself  to  blame  for  them,  and  not  Adam 
or  Eve,  body  or  sin,  death  or  devil,  for  all  that  has  been 
bound  and  vanquished  in  Christ." 

This  is  the  sum  of  the  first  book  on  the  Freedom 
of  tJie  Will.  In  his  second  treatise  on  the  subject 
Hiibmaier  goes  at   large   into   the  exegesis  of  the 


\ 


196  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

Scripture  passages  that  bear  on  the  subject,  and 
makes  plainer  than  before  his  desire  to  give  reality 
to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  The  doctrine 
taught  by  Luther  and  his  followers  was  that  in 
spiritual  things  the  unregenerate  man  is  wholly 
blind,  unable  to  work  the  righteousness  of  God, 
and  his  will  has  become  utterly  hostile  to  God,  so 
that  he  cannot  by  his  own  powers  give  any  assist- 
ance or  co-operation  towards  his  own  salvation. 
He  is  as  a  man  in  the  rapids  of  Niagara,  being 
swept  towards  destruction,  not  only  unable  to  do 
anything  to  help  himself,  but  unable  even  to  grasp 
the  rope  thrown  to  him  by  a  friendly  hand, — nay, 
not  even  desiring  to  be  saved,  and  must  against 
his  will  be  dragged  ashore,  kicking  and  struggling 
against  his  rescuer  to  the  last.  It  was  thought 
necessary  to  teach  such  a  doctrine  of  the  will  in 
order  to  magnify  the  divine  grace  in  man's  salva- 
tion, and  to  represent  man  as  having  any  power  of 
co-operation  was  thought  to  be  a  minimising  of 
God's  grace  and  a  bringing  back  again  of  the  idea 
of  salvation  by  works.  But  to  Hiibmaier  it  seemed 
clear  that  God's  veracity  and  good  faith  were  no 
less  at  stake  in  this  matter  than  the  misfht  of  his 


1527]         Teachings  of  Hiibmaier  197 

grace.     For  what  purpose  are  all  the  invitations  of 
the  gospel,  if  man  cannot  possibly  heed  them? 

**  Only  a  foolish  king  could  place  a  goal  before  his 
subjects  and  then  say,  '  Now  run  that  you  may  get 
there,'  when  he  already  knows  beforehand  that  they 
are  bound  in  iron  and  that  they  cannot  run.  It  were 
certainly  a  cunning  God,  who  invites  all  men  to  the 
supper,  and  really  offers  his  mercy  to  every  one,  if  he 
after  all  did  not  wish  the  invited  to  come.  It  were  a 
false  God  who  should  say  in  words,  '  Come  here,'  and  — - 
yet  in  secret  in  his  heart  should  think,  '  Sit  yonder.'  It 
would  be  an  unfaithful  God  who  should  publicly  offer 
grace  to  man,  and  should  clothe  him  in  new  raiment, 
yet  in  secret  take  it  away  from  him  and  prepare  hell  for 
him.  Cursed  be  he  who  maintains  that  God  has  com- 
manded us  impossible  things,  for  everything  that  is  im- 
possible to  our  strength  is  possible  by  the  word  which 
God  has  sent.  ...  As  the  human  eye  is  capable  of  ) 
seeing  light,  and  yet  cannot  see  it  unless  the  light  streams 
into  the  eye,  likewise  man  has  the  power  to  see  the  light 
of  faith  through  the  word  of  God,  yet  he  cannot  see  this 
light  unless  by  the  heavenly  illumination  it  is  borne  into 
his  soul.  .  .  .  Whoever  denies  the  freedom  of  the  — 
human  will,  denies  and  rejects  more  than  half  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures." 

From  the  passages  already  quoted,  it  will  be  seen 
that  Hiibmaier's  theory  regarding  original  sin  is 
very  nearly,  if  not  exactly,  that  now  called  the 
realistic.     When  Adam  fell  the  race  fell,  since  the 


tqS  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

race  was  potentially  in  him.  The  imputation  of 
Adam's  sin  to  his  posterity,  that  great  subject  of 
quarrel  among  theologians,  does  not  engage  his 
thought,  nor  does  he  go  at  any  length  into  the 
nature  of  sin  itself,  but  what  he  does  say  is  very 
much  to  the  point.  He  defines  sin  to  be  "every 
motion  or  desire  against  the  will  of  God,  whether 
in  thought,  word  or  deed,"  in  which  he  evidently 
comes  nearer  to  the  profound  truth  than  those 
modern  theologians  who  would  limit  sin  to  con- 
scious trangression  of  the  law. 

The  group  of  doctrines  usually  treated  by  theo- 
logians under  the  head  of  Soteriology  receives 
scant  attention  in  Hiibmaier's  writings.  Not  that 
he  had  any  doubt  regarding  any  of  them,  but  the 
circumstances  under  which  he  wrote  were  such  as 
to  call  for  no  extended  treatment.  Of  the  atone- 
ment, for  example,  as  the  means  of  salvation,  he 
speaks  definitely  but  once;  and  if  his  words  were 
literally  interpreted  they  would  show  that  he 
was  satisfied  with  the  theory  of  satisfaction  as 
taught  by  Anselm,  or  possibly  as  developed  by 
Aquinas.  As  to  the  execution  of  the  divine  elec- 
tion, the  means  by  which  men  are  actually  saved. 


15-^7]         Teachings  of  Hubmaier  199 

"effectual  calling,"  he  declares  that  this  calling  is 
twofold : 

"  Leonard. — How  does  God  call  or  draw  men  ? 

"  John. — In  two  ways,  inwardly  and  outwardly.  The 
outward  drawing  takes  place  by  the  public  proclamation 
of  his  holy  gospel,  which  Christ  commanded  to  be 
preached  to  every  creature,  and  is  now  made  known 
everywhere.  The  inward  drawing  is  wrought  by  God, 
who  enlightens  the  soul  within,  so  that  it  understands 
the  undeniable  truth,  and  is  so  thoroughly  convinced 
by  the  Spirit  and  the  preached  word,  as  to  confess  from 
the  conscience  that  these  things  must  be  so,  and  cannot 
be  otherwise."  * 

Of  this  calling  through  the  word  Hubmaier  makes 
much  in  all  his  writings,  believing  evidently  that  it 
is  the  chief  means  by  which  God  has  appointed  men 
to  be  saved.  Hence  the  importance,  in  his  estima- 
tion, of  the  preaching  of  a  "pure,  true,  clean  gos- 
pel," words  that  flow  from  his  pen  so  often  as  to 
become  a  sort  of  formula. 

The  result  of  this  calling,  of  this  hearing  the 
word,  is  faith, 

"  a  perception  of  the  unspeakable  mercy  of  God,  of  the 
gracious  favour  and  good-will  which  he  bears  to  us 
through  his  well-beloved  Son,  Jesus   Christ,  whom  he 


'  Table  of  Christian  Doctrine,  Op.  ii  ;  Hoschek,  ii. ,  266, 


200  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

did  not  spare,  but  gave  to  death  on  account  of  our  sin, 
that  sin  might  be  paid  and  we  be  reconciled  with  him, 
and  be  able  to  say  to  him  with  assurance  of  heart,  Abba, 
Father,  '  our  Father,  who  art  in  heaven.'  "     {^Op,  ii.) 

This  faith  is  something  more  than  mere  belief;  if 
genuine,  "living,"  it  will  manifest  itself  by  bringing 
forth  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit.  Faith  is  the  human 
side  of  this  transaction,  and  in  consequence  of  faith, 
or  in  connection  with  it,  the  Spirit  of  God  works  a 
complete  change  in  man's  affections  and  will: 

"  I  believe  and  trust  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  come  in 
me,  and  the  power  of  the  Most  High  God  has,  as  with 
Mary,  overshadowed  my  soul,  that  I  may  conceive  the 
new  man,  and  so  in  thy  living,  indestructible  word  and 
in  the  Spirit  be  born  again  and  see  the  kingdom  of  God.' 

"  If  we  are  to  become  again  free  in  spirit  ...  it 
must  be  through  a  new  birth,  without  which,  Christ 
says,  we  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  God.  '  Of  his 
own  will  begat  he  us  with  the  word  of  his  power ' 
[James  i.,  i8].  In  him  alone  do  we  really  get  free  and 
sound  again.  So  Christ  says,  '  The  truth  will  make 
you  free  indeed'     [John  viii.,  32]."  ^ 

There  is  no  mention  of  justification  in  Hiibmaier's 
writings,  even  where  we  might  fairly  expect  to  find 


'  Twelve  Articles,  Op.  18. 

^Freedom  of  the  Will,  Hoschek,  ii.,  265. 


1527]         Teachings  of  Hiibmaier  201 

it, — in  his  catechism ;  and  of  course  no  distinction 
between  justification  and  sanctification.  This  omis- 
sion cannot  be  explained  like  many  others;  the 
importance  that  these  doctrines  assumed  in  the 
Reformation  period,  and  the  amount  of  attention 
given  them  by  all  writers,  preclude  any  explanation, 
on  grounds  of  lack  of  necessity,  inadvertence,  and 
the  like,  for  their  absence  from  the  carefully  elabo- 
rated and  deliberately  printed  works  of  any  man  of 
the  time.  The  omission  must  be  deliberate,  calcu- 
lated, wilful.  An  omission  of  such  character  can 
be  accounted  for  only  on  one  ground,  that  Hiib- 
maier was  anxious  to  mark  clearly  his  divergence 
from  Luther  in  some  matters  that  the  latter  reck- 
oned cardinal  in  the  Protestant  theology.  Beyond 
this  we  are  utterly  in  the  dark. 

From  his  treatment  of  faith  and  regeneration 
Hiibmaier  passes  naturally  to  the  discussion  of 
Ecclesiology,  and,  as  we  might  expect  from  the  cir- 
cumstances  that  called  forth  his  writings,  this  is  the 
subject  that  receives  by  far  the  largest  amount  of 
space.  Having  heard  the  word,  having  believed  in 
Christ,  having  been  born  again  by  the  Spirit,  one  is 
fitted  for  the  next  step,  which  is  to  receive  baptism. 


202  Balthasar  Hlibmaier  [1524- 

Thc  baptism  of  the  Spirit  is  already  his:  it  is  fitting 
and  natural,  therefore,  that  he  should  have  the 
baptism  of  water: 

"Water  baptism  .  .  .  is  an  external  and  public 
testimony  of  the  inward  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  set  forth 
by  receiving  water.  By  this  not  only  are  sins  confessed, 
but  also  faith  in  their  pardon,  by  the  death  and  resur- 
rection of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  declared  before  all 
men.  Hereby  also  the  recii)ient  is  externally  marked, 
inscribed  and  incorporated  into  the  fellowship  of  the 
churches,  according  to  the  ordinance  of  Christ,  Pub- 
licly and  orally  he  vows  to  God,  by  the  strength  of  God 
the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  that  he  will  henceforth 
believe  and  live  according  to  the  divine  word,  and  in 
case  he  should  be  negligent,  that  he  will  receive  brotherly 
admonition,  according  to  the  order  of  Christ  in  Matt, 
xviii.  Such  are  the  genuine  baptismal  vows,  which  we 
have  lost  for  a  thousand  years,  Satan  meanwhile  crowd- 
ing in  with  his  monastic  and  priestly  vows,  and  putting 
them  in  place  of  the  holy.' 

"The  third  error,  that  we  have  called  the  water  of 
baptism,  as  well  as  the  bread  and  wine  of  the  altar,  a 
sacrament,  and  have  so  regarded  them ;  though  not  the 
water,  bread  or  wine,  but  the  vow  of  baptism  or  love- 
plight  properly  and  rightly  is  a  sacrament;  which  in  Latin 
is  an  oath-plight  and  promise  with  joining  of  hands, 
which  the  baptised  make  to  Christ,  our  invincible  leader 
and  head,  that  he  will  contend  manfully  under  his  flag 
and  banner  in  Christian  faith  until  death."" 


'  Table  of  Christian  Doctrine,  Op.  ii  ;   Hoschek,  ii.,  254. 
*  Form  for  Baptising,  Op.  19. 


1527]         Teachings  of  Hiibmaier  203 

But  while  thus  careful  to  disclaim  all  sacramental 
efficacy  for  baptism,  he  will  not  admit  that  it  is  a 
mere  negligible  form: 

"  Read  the  history  of  the  apostles  and  you  will  find 
that  the  Samaritans  believed  Philip  and  afterwards  were 
baptised.  So  also  Simon  and  the  chamberlain  of  Queen 
Candace  believed  and  afterwards  were  baptised.  Paul 
believed  and  afterwards  was  baptised.  Cornelius  and 
his  household  believed,  received  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
afterwards  were  baptised  with  water.  Lydia,  the  seller 
of  purple,  and  the  jailor,  believed  and  were  baptised. 
Who  would  or  can  think  that  all  these  would  have  been 
baptised,  if  the  order  and  earnest  command  of  Christ 
had  not  moved  and  constrained  them  to  it  ?  Truly,  they 
might  indeed  have  said,  '  We  have  believed  the  word  of 
God,  and  we  have  in  part  received  the  Holy  Spirit:  what 
need  have  we  of  baptism?  Faith  saves.'  Nay,  not  so, 
but  he  who  believes  is  baptised  and  does  not  dispute,  for 
he  sees  the  order  of  Christ  before  his  eyes  and  performs 
it,  where  water  and  a  baptiser  may  be  had;  but  when  the 
two  cannot  be  had,  there  faith  is  enough.  Take  an 
example.  Had  the  chamberlain,  sitting  beside  Philip 
and  believing,  died  straightway  before  they  came  to  the 
brook,  he  were  no  less  saved  before  the  baptism  than 
afterwards.  This  is  the  meaning  of  Christ  when  he  says, 
'  He  that  believes  and  is  baptised  shall  be  saved,  but  he 
that  believes  not  is  condemned  ' ;  for  no  doubt  many 
thousands  have  been  saved  who  have  not  been  baptised, 
for  they  could  not  obtain  it.  But  as  the  chamberlain 
had  both  the  baptiser  and  the  water  together,  he  was 
bound  by  the  command  of  Christ  to  be  baptised.     Had 


204  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

he  not  done  it,  Christ  would  have  held  him  as  a  despiser 
and  transgressor  of  his  words,  and  as  such  he  would 
have  been  punished."  ' 

But  though  he  insists  thus  strenuously  on  belief 
before  baptism,  and  on  the  duty  of  every  believer 
to  be  "baptised  rightly,  according  to  the  order  of 
Christ,  even  though  he  be  a  hundred  years  old,"  he 
will  not  for  a  moment  admit  that  he  is  rightly  called 
an  Anabaptist : 

"  I  have  never  taught  Anabaptism.  I  know  of  none, 
except  that  in  Acts  xix.  But  the  right  baptism  of  Christ, 
which  is  preceded  by  teaching  and  oral  confession  of 
faith,  I  teach,  and  say  that  infant  baptism  is  a  robbery 
of  the  right  baptism  of  Christ,  and  a  misuse  of  the  high 
name  of  God,  Father  and  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  altogether 
opposed  to  the  institution  of  Christ  and  to  the  customs 
of  the  apostles.'' 

"But  since  this  oath  [in  the  pledge  of  baptism]  is 
made  to  Christ  himself,  who  abides  in  eternity,  the  once 
baptised  should  not  be  rebaptised,  as  the  Novatians  and 
Hemerobaptists.  Yet  since  the  invented  infant  baptism 
is  no  baptism,  those  who  have  received  water  baptism 
according  to  the  order  of  Christ  cannot  be  charged  with 
rebaptism,  thougli  in  their  childhood  and  in  the  blindness 
of  their  forefathers  they  were  formerly  bathed  in  water. "  ' 


'  Ground  and  Rtuson,  Op.  i6. 

*  S/iort  Apoh^y,  Op.  13. 

^  Form  for  Baptising,  Op.  19. 


1527]         Teachings  of  Hubmaier  205 

According  to  the  Scriptures  baptism  is  in  some 
way  connected  with  the  remission  of  sins.  In  some 
cases  Hubmaier  so  states  this  connection  as  to  per- 
mit the  inference  from  his  words  that  he  would  have 
agreed  with  Alexander  Campbell  and  his  followers. 
But  it  is  evident,  on  reading  farther,  that  this  is 
merely  an  unguarded  and  careless  expression  of  his 
belief.  Elsewhere  he  defines  more  strictly  what 
this  connection  is: 

"  Water  baptism  was  given  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins. 
Acts  ii.,  38;  I  Pet.  iii.,  21.  It  is  all  contained  in  the 
ninth  and  tenth  articles  of  Christian  belief,  where  we 
confess  a  universal  Christian  Church,  a  communion  of 
saints  and  forgiveness  of  sins,  which  was  the  understand- 
ing and  conclusion  set  forth  by  the  Nicene  Council,  with 
these  words,  '  I  confess  one  only  baptism  to  the  remis- 
sion of  sins.'  Therefore,  as  much  as  one  is  concerned 
about  communion  with  God  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Spirit,  yea,  also  about  communion  with  the  heavenly 
host  and  with  the  whole  Christian  Church,  also  about  the 
forgiveness  of  his  sins,  so  much  should  he  be  concerned 
about  water  baptism,  by  which  he  enters  and  is  incorpo- 
rated in  the  universal  Christian  Church,  out  of  which 
there  is  no  salvation.  Not  that  the  remission  of  sins  is 
to  be  ascribed  to  the  water,  but  to  the  power  of  the  keys 
which  Christ  by  his  word  has  given  to  his  Spouse  and 
unspotted  bride,  the  Christian  Church,  in  his  bodily 
absence,  and  hung  at  her  side  when  he  said  to  her, 
'  Receive  the  Holy  Spirit;  whose  sins  ye  loose  they  are 


2o6  Balthascir  Ilubmaier  [1524- 

loosed,  and  whose  sins  ye  retain  they  are  retained.' 
John  XX.,  22,  23.  Just  so  Christ  speaks  in  another  place 
to  the  Church,  '  Verily  I  say  to  you,  Whatsoever  ye  bind 
on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  ye 
loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven.'  Matt,  xviii., 
18.  Here  one  sees  plainly  that  the  universal  Church  has 
the  same  power  to  loose  or  to  bind  sins  now  on  earth 
which  Christ  himself  as  a  man  aforetime  bodily  here  on 
earth  had.  He  who  believes  the  word  of  God  enters  the 
ark  of  Noah,  which  is  a  true  figure  of  baptism,  that  out 
of  this  ark  he  be  not  drowned  in  the  flood  of  sin."  ' 

By  baptism,  it  is  said  in  the  last  quotation,  the 
believer  becomes  incorporated  in  the  Church.  That 
naturally  raises  the  question,  What  does  Hubmaier 
understand  by  the  Church?  in  what  sense  or  senses 
does  he  use  that  word  ?  The  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion is  not  obscurely  hinted  at  in  the  above  para- 
graph, but  it  is  well  to  see  what  are  the  more 
explicit  definitions: 

".  .  .  The  people  .  .  .  have  with  public  con- 
fession of  Christian  faith  and  with  reception  of  water 
baptism  been  inscribed,  marked  and  incorporated  with 
the  assembly  of  the  universal  Church,  out  of  which  is  no 
salvation,  as  there  was  none  out  of  the  ark  of  Noah. 
Out  of  this  people  there  has  now  become  a  separate  and 
outward  church,  and  a  new  daughter  born  of  her  mother 
— as  the  mother,  that  is,  the  universal  Church,  does  the 
will  of  her  husband  and  spouse,  who  is  Christ  Jesus,  the 

'  Ground  and  Reason,  Op.  i6. 


1527]  Teachings  of  Hubmaier  207 

Son  of  the  living  God,  whose  will  he  performed  unto 
death — in  order  that  the  will  of  God  the  Father  by  his 
beloved  Son,  the  mother  and  daughter,  be  maintained  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  heaven."  ' 

**  Leonard. — Seeing  you  have  now  assured  the  church 
of  your  faith  by  your  baptism,  go  on  and  tell  us  what  is 
the  church. 

"John. — The  Church  is  sometimes  taken  to  include 
all  men  who  are  congregated  and  united  in  one  God,  in  - 
one  Lord,  in  one  faith  and  in  one  baptism,  and  confess 
the  faith  with  the  mouth,  wherever  they  may  be  on  earth. 
That  is  the  universal  Christian  Church,  the  body  and 
communion  of  saints,  that  meets  only  in  the  Spirit  of 
God,  which  is  named  in  the  ninth  article  of  the  creed. 
Sometimes  the  church  is  taken  to  include  a  particular 
external  congregation,  parish  or  people,  that  belongs 
under  one  pastor  or  bishop,  and  comes  together  bodily 
for  doctrine,  baptism  and  the  supper.  The  church  as 
daughter  has  equal  power  with  the  mother,  the  universal 
Church,  in  binding  and  loosing  upon  earth,  as  long  as  she 
uses  the  keys  according  to  the  command  of  Christ,  her 
spouse  and  husband. 

"  Leonard. — What  is  the  difference  between  these 
two  churches  ? 

"  John. — The  particular  church  may  err,  as  the  papal 
Church  has  erred  in  many  things,  but  the  universal 
Church  cannot  err.  She  is  without  spot  or  wrinkle,  is 
ruled  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  Christ  is  with  her  to  the 
end  of  the  world.  God  always  keeps  for  himself  seven 
thousand  who  have  not  bowed  their  knees  to  the  idol  of 
Baal. 


'  Concerning  Brotherly  Discipline,  Op.  2i. 


2o8  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

"  Leonard. — Upon  what  is  the  Christian  Church 
built  ? 

"  John. — On  the  oral  confession  of  faith  that  Jesus  is 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God.  This  external 
confession,  and  not  faith  alone,  makes  a  church,  for  a 
church  has  power  to  bind  or  to  loose,  is  external,  is  a 
body,  while  faith  is  eternal.  Although  faith  alone  justi- 
fies, it  does  not  by  itself  save.  Public  confession  must 
be  present  as  we  read  plainly  in  Matt,  xvi.,  i8:  '  On  this 
rock  (to  wit,  the  preceding  confession)  I  will  build  my 
church.'  See  also  Matt,  x.,  32;  Luke  xii.,  8;  Rom.  x., 
10."' 

Christ  has  girded  his  bride,  the  Church,  with  two 
bands:  the  second  of  these  is  the  Supper,  which  is 
the  pledge  of  brotherly  love  and  the  memorial  of 
Christ's  sufferings.  The  bread  and  wine  are  real 
bread  and  wine:  but  they  are  also  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ,  yet  only  in  the  sense  of  memorials. 
Hiibmaier  asserted  an  important  difference  between 
his  teaching  and  Zwingli's,  and  reproached  the  latter 
for  falsifying  the  Scriptures  in  saying  "This  is  my 
body"  is  equivalent  to  "This  signifies  my  body." 
Not  even  Luther  is  more  emphatic  in  rejecting  this 
exegesis  of  the  Swiss  reformer,  and  insisting  that 
"is  "  must  be  taken  in  the  plain  sense  of  "  is  "  and 
nothing  else.     But  then  he  immediately  argues  away 

'  Table  of  Christtayi  Doctrine,  Op.  11  ;   Hoschek,  ii.,  202. 


1527]  Teachings  of  Hlibmaier  209 

that  for  which  he  has  so  valiantly  contended,  in  a 
manner  more  creditable  to  his  ingenuity  than  to  his 
good  sense  and  good  faith. 

"This  is  my  body,"  he  says,  is  immediately  fol- 
lowed by  "Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me."  It  is 
a  well-known  rule  that  every  subject  must  be  under- 
stood by  its  predicate.  Hence,  "This  is  my  body" 
must  be  taken  to  mean,  This  bread  is  the  body  of 
Christ  that  was  crucified  for  us.  But,  as  matter  of 
fact,  the  bread  was  not  crucified,  did  not  die  for  us. 
Therefore  the  bread  must  be  the  body  of  Christ 
not  in  reality  but  in  remembrance,  for  the  words 
"in  remembrance  of  me  "  qualify  all  the  preceding 
words.  Hence  the  breaking,  distributing,  and  eat- 
ing of  the  bread  is  not  an  actual  breaking,  dis- 
tributing, and  eating  of  the  body  of  Christ,  but  a 
remembrance  of  his  passion,  an  eating  in  faith  that 
he  did  this  for  us.' 

Whether  Hiibmaier's  exegesis  or  Zwingli's  is  the 
better  may  be  a  fair  question,  but  what  is  perfectly 
plain  is  that  they  reach  exactly  the  same  result. 
One  cannot  resist  the  conclusion  that  this  difference 
between  the  two  teachers  amounted  to  just  nothing 

'  Simple  Explanation,  Op,  15  ;  Hoschek,  ii.,  134  sq. 
14 


2IO  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

at  all,  and  that  on  Hiibmaier's  part  it  was  nothing 
more  than  a  survival  of  that  subtle,  hair-splitting 
method  of  debate  learned  by  him  in  the  universities, 
from  which  he  never  completely  emancipated  him- 
self. He  had  no  grounds,  certainly,  to  condemn 
Zwingli,  and  he  shows  too  much  eagerness  to  find 
a  cause  of  accusation  against  one  who  had  indeed 
wronged  him,  but  against  whom  he  was  not  there- 
fore permitted  to  seek  vengeance  in  this  way. 

If  the  Form  of  tJie  Supper  which  he  published  is 
to  be  construed  literally,  then  Hiibmaier  was  in 
favour  of  surrounding  the  service  with  much  ritual; 
with  its  homilies  and  prescribed  prayers  it  is  ex- 
tremely liturgical.  The  actual  administration  is, 
however,  very  simple : 

"  Now  the  priest  takes  the  bread  into  his  hand,  breaks 
it,  and  gives  it  to  those  present,  and  says,  '  The  Lord 
Jesus  the  night  on  which  he  was  betrayed,  took  bread, 
and  when  he  had  given  thanks  he  broke  it  and  said, 
"  This  is  my  body  that  is  given  for  you,  do  this  in  re- 
membrance of  me."  Take  and  eat  this  bread,  brothers 
and  sisters,  in  memory  of  the  body  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  which  he  gave  us  when  he  died  for  us.'  And 
when  all  have  eaten,  the  priest  takes  the  cup  with  the 
wine  and  says,  with  eyes  lifted,  '  God,  to  thee  be  the 
honour  and  praise.'  Then  he  passes  it  to  them  and 
says,  '  In  like  manner  the  Lord  Jesus  took  the  cup  when 

i 


1527]  Teachings  of  Hiibmaier  211 

he  had  supped,  saying,  "  This  cup  is  a  new  covenant  in 
my  blood;  do  this  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it  in  remembrance 
of  me."  Therefore  take  the  cup  and  drink  out  of  it  all 
of  you,  in  remembrance  of  the  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that  was  shed  for  us  for  the  forgiveness  of  our 
sins.'  And  when  all  have  drunk  the  priest  says,  *As  oft 
as  ye  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  forth 
the  Lord's  death,  till  he  come.'  " 

It  is  also  clear  that  Hiibmaier  was  what  in  these 
days  would  be  called  a  "close  communionist  "  ;  that 
is,  he  held  that  baptism  should  always  precede  the 
communion,  and  as  there  was  but  one  baptism,  the 
baptism  of  a  believer,  those  who  had  received  only 
the  so-called  baptism  bestowed  on  them  in  their 
infancy  were  not  entitled  to  come  to  the  Lord's 
table.  This  view  he  clearly  sets  forth  in  his  Form 
for  Baptising  in  Water: 

"  Everywhere  the  supper  of  Christ  has  been  held,  and 
men  have  communicated  under  both  forms  (as  they  call 
it),  and  yet  no  baptism  has  preceded,  against  the  clear 
Scripture,  which  shows  tins  order:  first,  preaching; 
second,  faith;  third,  confession;  fourth,  water  baptism ; 
fifth,  breaking  of  bread  (Acts  ii.  and  other  places). 
But  Satan  can  well  suffer  it  that  one  builds  up  something 
to-day,  and  in  a  little  time  breaks  it  down  again;  for 
thereby  many  people  are  so  greatly  weakened,  mazed 
and  vexed,  that  they  do  not  at  all  know  what  they  should 
believe  and  hold." 


212  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

One  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Anabaptists  gen- 
erally was  the  importance  they  attached  to  discipline 
and  the  Ban,  or  excommunication.  This  may  be 
seen  in  the  Schleitheim  Confession  and  many  of 
their  extant  documents.  Hiibmaier  docs  not  differ 
from  the  general  body  in  this  respect ;  indeed,  he 
would  make  this  the  doctrine  of  a  standing  or  fall- 
ing church.  Again  and  again  he  uses  language  like 
this: 

"  Yea,  God  lives  and  himself  testifies  that  I  speak  the 
truth:  unless  brotherly  discipline  be  restored,  received 
and  used  according  to  the  earnest  command  of  Christ,  it 
is  impossible  that  it  can  be  right  and  well  with  Christians 
on  earth.  Although  we  all  with  all  our  might  cry,  write 
and  hear  the  gospel,  yet  crying,  labour  and  toil  is  in  vain 
and  unprofitable — even  water  baptism  and  the  breaking 
of  bread  are  in  vain  and  to  no  purpose  and  without  fruit 
— where  brotherly  discipline  and  Christian  excommuni- 
cation do  not  accompany  them." 

To  this  subject  he  has  devoted  two  entire  treatises, 
but  the  briefest  statement  of  his  views  is  in  his 
catechism : 

"  Leonard — What  is  fraternal  discipline  ? 

"  John — Wlien  one  sees  his  brother  sin,  he  should  go 
to  him  in  love  and  admonish  him  fraternally  and  privately 
to  leave  off  such  sin.     If  he  does  leave  off,  his  soul  is 


1527]  Teachings  of  Hubmaier  213 

won.  If  he  does  not,  then  two  or  three  witnesses  should 
be  taken,  and  he  may  be  admonished  before  them  a 
second  time.  If  he  yields  it  is  well;  if  not,  the  church 
should  hear  it.  He  is  brought  before  her  and  admon- 
ished the  third  time.  If  he  leaves  off  his  sin  the  church 
has  won  his  soul. 

"  Leonard — Where  does  the  church  get  its  authority  ? 

"  John — From  Christ's  command,  given  in  Matt,  xviii. 
18;  John  XX.,  23. 

"  Leonard — By  what  right  may  one  brother  use  his 
authority  over  another  ? 

"John — By  the  baptismal  vow,  which  subjects  every 
one  to  the  church  and  all  its  members,  according  to  the 
word  of  Christ. 

"  Leonard — Suppose  the  admonished  sinner  will  not 
correct  his  course  ? 

"  John — Then  the  church  has  the  power  and  right  to 
exclude  and  excommunicate  him,  as  a  perjurer  and 
apostate. 

"  Leonard — What  is  excommunication  ? 

"  John — It  is  exclusion  and  separation  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  no  fellowship  is  held  with  such  a  person  by 
Christians,  whether  in  speaking,  eating,  drinking,  grind- 
ing, baking,  or  in  any  other  way,  but  he  is  treated  as  a 
heathen  and  a  publican,  that  is,  as  an  offensive,  dis- 
orderly and  venomous  man,  who  is  bound  and  delivered 
over  to  Satan.  He  is  to  be  avoided  and  shunned,  lest 
the  entire  visible  church  be  evil  spoken  of,  disgraced 
and  dishonoured  by  his  company,  and  corrupted  by  his 
example,  instead  of  being  startled  and  made  afraid  by 
his  punishment,  so  that  they  will  mortify  their  sins. 
For  as  truly  as  God  lives  what  the  church  admits  or 
excludes  on  earth  is  admitted  or  excluded  above. 


214  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1524- 

"  Leonard — What  are  grounds  for  exclusion  ? 

"John — Unwillingness  to  be  reconciled  with  one's 
brother,  or  to  abstain  from  sin. 

"  Leonard — For  what  should  we  exclude  ? 

"  John — Not  for  six  shillings'  worth  of  hazel  nuts,  as 
our  i)apist  friends  have  been  wont  to  do,  but  on  account 
of  an  offensive  sin,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  offender,  that 
he  may  reflect,  know  himself  and  abstain  from  sin. 

"  Leonard — If  he  abstains  from  the  sin,  avoids  the 
paths  by  which  he  might  again  fall,  and  does  better,  what 
position  is  the  church  to  take  ? 

"  John — She  is  to  receive  him  again  with  joy,  as  the 
father  the  prodigal  son,  and  as  Paul  the  Corinthian, 
opening  heaven  to  him  and  welcoming  him  to  the  fellow- 
ship of  Christ's  supper." 

On  the  question  of  singing  hymns  the  Anabaptists 
were  as  much  troubled  and  divided  as  some  modern 
Presbyterian  sects.  Some  opposed  the  use  of  any- 
thing but  the  psalms  for  this  purpose,  yet  on  the 
other  hand  some  of  the  oldest  Anabaptist  composi- 
tions extant  are  hymns.  Hubmaier  took  a  moder- 
ate and  sensible  view  of  this,  as  of  most  practical 
questions. 

"  With  singing  and  reading  in  the  churches  I  am  well 
contented  (but  not  as  they  have  hitherto  been  con- 
ducted), when  it  is  with  the  spirit  and  from  the  heart 
and  with  understanding  of  the  words  and  edification  of 
the  church  as  Paul  teaches  us  (i  Cor  xiv.,  15;  Col.  iii., 


IS27]  Teachings  of  Hiibmaier  215 

16;  Eph.  v.,  19).  But  otherwise  God  utterly  rejects  it 
and  will  have  none  of  our  Baal  cries  (Mai.  ii.,  17;  Ezek. 
xxxiii.,  31,  32)."  ' 

The  Anabaptists  were  likewise  greatly  divided  on 
the  question  of  the  community  of  goods,  some 
holding  it  to  be  an  inseparable  part  of  church  order 
that  the  brethren  should  have  all  things  in  com- 
mon, as  in  the  church  at  Jerusalem.  In  his  writings 
Hiibmaier  does  not  deal  with  this  question,  for  he 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  brought  into  personal 
contact  with  Anabaptists  who  held  this  theory  till 
the  closing  months  of  his  life.  There  is  no  reason 
to  doubt  that  the  explanation  he  made  to  the  Zurich 
council,  already  quoted  in  full,  correctly  represented 
both  his  private  views  and  his  public  teaching,  not 
only  up  to  that  time,  but  to  the  end  of  his  life. 
The  fact  that  at  Nikolsburg  he  found  this  doctrine 
closely  associated  with  Hut's  chiliasm  and  denial  of 
the  right  of  the  sword,  would  not  be  likely  to  incline 
him  to  its  acceptance,  to  say  the  least.  We  may, 
without  fear  of  hasty  conclusion,  set  Hiibmaier 
down  as  a  disbeliever  in  this  doctrine  as  a  necessary 
part  of  Christianity. 


1  Short  Apology,  Op.  13. 


2i6  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1524- 

As  to  cschatology,  Hiibmaier  held  precisely  those 
beliefs  that  were  then  and  are  still  reckoned  ortho- 
dox. He  taught  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  a  final 
judgment,  an  everlasting  life  with  God  for  the  re- 
deemed, and  an  eternal  retribution  for  those  dying 
in  their  wickedness.  He  treats  all  these  points 
briefly  and  with  reserve,  but  so  as  to  make  clear  his 
full  acceptance  of  them  all,  because  he  believed 
them  to  be  taught  in  the  Scriptures.  There  is  not 
a  trace  of  the  restorationism  found  in  the  teachings 
of  Denck.  On  one  question  about  which  some  of 
the  Anabaptists  were  more  outspoken,  he  is  inclined 
to  make  no  positive  pronouncement,  namely,  the 
fate  of  those  dying  in  infancy.  The  Romanists  and 
some  Protestants  settle  this  question  easily,  by  say- 
ing that  all  infants  who  are  baptised  are  saved,  while 
others  are  lost.  The  Calvinist  used  to  be  ready 
with  his  answer,  that  all  elect  infants  are  saved, 
leaving  it  to  be  certainly  inferred  that  non-elect  in- 
fants are  lost.  Hiibmaier  will  go  no  farther  than 
the  Scriptures  go.  He  cannot  find  in  these  an  ex- 
plicit declaration  that  all  infants  are  saved,  therefore 
he  will  not  assert  it ;  nevertheless  he  makes  it  plain 
that  he  considers  the  salvation  of  all  infants  to  be  an 


1527]  Teachings  of  Hiibmaier  217 

opinion  wholly  consonant  with  what  the  Scriptures 
do  say,  and  there  he  leaves  the  matter,  trusting  to 
the  love  and  mercy  of  God,  and  confident  that  He 
will  do  right.  And  what  more  can  any  one  do  who 
founds  his  theology  strictly  on  the  Scriptures? 

Of  Hiibmaier's  teachings  regarding  liberty  of 
conscience,  the  relations  of  the  religious  and  the 
civil  powers,  and  the  like,  enough  has  been  said. 
The  question  of  oaths  he  discusses  very  slightly, 
but  here  he  must  have  disagreed  positively  with  the 
more  austere  Anabaptist  groups.  If  magistrates 
and  courts  are  according  to  the  order  of  Christ, 
judicial  oaths  can  be  no  less  so.  Nor  need  we  linger 
over  the  negative  and  polemic  side  of  our  author's 
teachings,  interesting  though  these  frequently  are, 
and  racy  though  his  language  often  is.  Hiibmaier 
was  frequently  at  his  best  in  polemic  writing.  He 
is  less  abusive,  less  scurrilous,  than  the  major  part 
of  the  writers  of  the  period.  He  could  write  against 
an  opponent  without  dipping  his  pen  in  gall  and 
vitriol,  though  he  sometimes  offends  against  a 
modern  sense  of  propriety  in  speaking  of  and  to  his 
adversaries. 

In  spite  of  all  that  we  have  found  in  this  man 


2i8  Balthasar  Hubmaicr     [1524-1527] 

that  demands  our  reprobation,  have  we  not  found 
much  more  that  has  moved  us  to  admiration?  Not- 
withstanding his  wavering  at  Zurich,  does  not  Hiib- 
maier  seem  to  us  to  stand  forth  as  one  of  the  heroic 
figures  of  the  Reformation  age?  He  might  have 
taken  for  his  own,  words  that  Addison  has  put  into 
the  mouth  of  his  Cato: 

"  'T  is  not  in  mortals  to  command  success, 
But  we  '11  do  more,  Sempronius — we  '11  deserve  it." 


CHAPTER  VII 

HUBMAIER   THE    MARTYR 
1527-1528 

r^ROM  the  time  of  his  election  to  the  Margravate 
*  of  Moravia  (October,  1526),  Ferdinand  of 
Austria  had  been  determined  to  make  his  authority 
as  absolute  in  that  province  as  in  his  own  duchy  of 
Austria.  The  Moravian  nobles  had  long  been  ac- 
customed to  a  semi-independence  that  they  now 
resigned  with  great  reluctance,  but  they  could  op- 
pose no  effective  resistance  to  the  force  that  Ferdi- 
nand could  put  into  the  field,  and  slowly,  with  an  ill 
grace,  they  submitted.  As  there  could  be  no  open 
resistance,  so  there  could  be  no  flat  disobedience — 
passive,  sullen,  disaffected  if  not  disloyal,  they 
obeyed  when  they  must,  and  disobeyed  when 
they  dared. 

Ferdinand  was  a  loyal  son  of  the  Church,  and  was 

determined  to   suppress   heresy   everywhere   in    his 

219 


220  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1527- 

domains.  He  was  not  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
Moravia  was,  just  then,  the  chief  hotbed  of  heresy 
in  Europe,  and  so  soon  as  he  could  make  his  au- 
thority felt  in  the  province  he  began  to  demand 
the  co-operation  of  the  nobles  to  suppress  heresy 
and  punish  heretics.  A  general  edict,  bearing  date 
August  28,  1527,  required  instant  and  strict  enforce- 
ment of  the  decree  of  the  Diet  of  Worms,  and 
directed  that  special  pains  be  taken  by  magistrates 
and  governors  to  bring  to  punishment  those  who 
were  practising  rebaptism  and  denied  the  venerable 
sacrament  of  the  altar.'  Special  edicts  relating  to 
affairs  in  Moravia  were  issued  later,  but  this  was 
the  one  under  which  the  arrest  and  prosecution  of 
Hubmaier  occurred. 

The  terms  of  the  edict  make  it  plain  that,  among 
all  the  heretics,  the  Anabaptists  were  singled  out 
for  especial  severity.  The  writings  that  Hubmaier 
had  been  so  industriously  composing  and  circulating 
were  now  read  far  beyond  the  bounds  of  Moravia, 
and  the  hereditary  domains  of  Ferdinand  were  be- 
ginning to  feel  the  result  of  the  evangelical  agita- 


'  Loserth,  p.  171,  from  the  State  archives.      Cf.  Beck,  Geschichts- 
Biichcr,  p.  60,  11.  i. 


1528]  The  Martyr  221 

tion.  Not  only  Moravia,  but  the  Tyrol,  Salzburg, 
and  even  Austria  itself  were  swarming  with  heretics. 
From  many  sources  it  may  be  gathered  that  genuine 
and  not  unreasonable  apprehension  was  caused  by 
the  rapid  spread  of  Anabaptism.  All  the  interests 
of  the  Roman  Church  demanded  its  immediate  and 
effective  repression.  And  every  Catholic  ruler  was 
apprehensive  lest  the  progress  of  heresy  should 
mean  the  weakening  of  his  own  authority — that 
revolt  from  the  Church  would  only  be  the  prelude 
to  a  revolt  from  civil  authority. 

It  would  not  require  much  time  for  the  authorities 
to  learn  that  Nikolsburg  was  the  storm-centre  of 
this  new  movement,  and  that  the  leader  there  was 
the  same  pestilent  fellow  who  had  already  given 
them  so  great  trouble  at  Waldshut,  and  upon  whom 
they  had  been  most  anxious  to  lay  hands  for  three 
or  four  years  past.  Copies  of  certain  writings  of  his 
had  been  transmitted  to  the  Austrian  Government, 
which  thereupon  proceeded  to  act  with  decision. 
Early  in  July,  probably,  the  lords  of  Lichtenstein 
were  commanded  to  come  to  Vienna  and  bring  with 
them  this  heretic  and  rebel,  long  a  fugitive  from 
Austrian  justice.       The  command  was  obeyed,  and 


222  Balthasar  Hubmaicr  [1527- 

Hiibmaier  and  his  wife  were  taken  to  Vienna  and 
confined  until  arrangements  could  be  made  for  their 
trial.' 

A  preliminary  examination  seems  to  have  been 
given  him  at  once,  for  Ferdinand  wrote,  July  22nd, 
to  Freiburg  a  letter  in  which  he  said : 

"  Since  Dr.  Balthasar  a  long  time  ago  was  pastor  in 
our  city  of  Waldshut,  and  through  his  preaching  and 
misleading  doctrine  mischief,  ill-will,  disturbance  and 
rebellion  greatly  increased  among  the  common  people  in 
our  borderlands,  the  city  of  Waldshut  all  but  fell  away 
from  us  and  our  house.  When  the  city  of  Waldshut  was 
afterwards  conquered,  he  fled  and  came  into  our  Mar- 
gravate  of  Moravia.  On  account  of  all  this  we  have  cir- 
cumspectly lain  in  wait  for  him,  until  we  brought  him  to 
our  royal  prison  here  in  Vienna,  and  have  confined  him 
in  prison,  and  had  him  examined,  yet  without  torture, 
on  the  enclosed  list  of  questions.  Now  you  were  very 
active  during  the  said  disturbance  at  Waldshut,  and  that 
of  the  peasants,  and  know  much  about  this  business  of 
the  Doctor's,  and  no  doubt  remember  it  well.  Since, 
therefore,  the  affair  does  not  admit  of  postponement,  we 
command  you,  speedily  and  without  delay,  to  give  thor- 
ough and  diligent  examination  to  the  list  of  questions. 


'  Of  the  three  different,  and  even  conflicting,  accounts  in  Anabap- 
tist chronicles  of  the  period,  the  above  is  the  most  probable.  Ho- 
schek  simply  gives  the  various  accounts  (ii.,  253)  without  attempting 
to  reconcile  them  or  decide  between  them  ;  while  Loserth  (p.  173) 
gives  the  above,  but  does  not  hint  that  there  is  any  conflict  on  this 
point.     See  Beck,  Geschichts-Buchcr,  pp.  52,  53. 


1528]  The  Martyr  223 

with  reference  to  the  late  hearing;  also  that  you  learn 
by  thorough  inquiry  whatever  else  you  can  concerning 
all  that  is  herein  included,  and  give  us  your  counsel  re- 
garding the  same,  that  we  may  know  in  future  how  to 
perform  our  whole  duty  in  the  uprooting  of  evil,  and  by 
punishment  to  make  so  much  the  better  example  for 
others.' 

After  this  preliminary  examination,  which  is  dis- 
tinctly stated  to  have  been  held  in  the  royal  prison 
at  Vienna,  Hiibmaier  and  his  wife  were  sent  else- 
where for  several  months. 

The  place  of  their  confinement  is  said  by  all  the 
contemporary  authorities  to  have  been  the  castle  of 
Greisenstein,  or  Gratzenstein  or  Greutzenstain,  but 
there  has  been  and  is  dispute  as  to  the  identification 
of  this  spot.  Beck  and  Loserth  think  that  the  castle 
of  Kreutzenstein  is  meant,  on  the  ground  that  it  is 
known  to  have  been  used  in  the  sixteenth  century 
as  a  State  prison.  Others  have  generally  identified 
the  place  with  Greifenstein,  a  castle  still  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Lichtenstein  family,  a  few  miles  from 
Vienna  on  the  Danube.  This  identification  seems 
the  more  probable,  and  suggests  that  Hubmaier 
may  have  been   left   in   the  custody   of  his    noble 


'  Quoted  by  Loserth  (p.  174)  from  the  State  archives  at  Innsbruck. 


224  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1527- 

fricnds  for  a  time,  who,  though  powerless  to  pro- 
tect him,  might  be  able  to  alleviate  his  confinement 
somewhat. 

In  our  ignorance  of  all  the  facts,  the  lords  of 
Lichtenstein  necessarily  lie  under  the  odious  sus- 
picion of  having  surrendered  their  chief  preacher 
with  altogether  too  much  alacrity,  for  it  docs  not 
appear  that  they  made  any  attempt  whatever  to 
save  him.  It  is  possible,  even  probable,  that  it  re- 
quired all  their  power  and  social  standing  to  secure 
their  own  immunity  from  prosecution.  But  the 
suspicion  may,  after  all,  do  them  an  injustice. 
Much  was  made  in  the  preliminary  accusation,  and 
throughout  the  process,  of  Hiibmaier's  alleged  dis- 
loyal conduct  at  Waldshut.  It  was  no  uncommon 
thing,  in  those  days,  to  arrest  a  man  on  a  charge  of 
sedition  and  condemn  him  for  heresy,  or  vice  versa. 
It  may  well  be  the  case  that  the  demand  sent  to 
Nikolsburg  for  the  surrender  of  Hiibmaier  specified 
sedition  as  the  chief  offence — it  may  even  have  been 
the  only  offence  then  named." 

The   circumstances  all   confirm    this  hypothesis. 


'  So  Loserth  (p.    173),  who  says  persecution   for  heresy  did   not 
begin  in  Moravia  until  March,  1528. 


1 528]  The  Martyr  225 

If  the  charge  were  sedition  and  not  heresy,  it  is 
difficult  to  see  on  what  decent  pretext  the  lords  of 
Lichtenstein  could  have  declined  to  surrender  for 
trial  one  whose  offence  was  alleged  to  be  flagrant. 
Had  a  question  been  raised  at  this  time  concerning 
the  religious  beliefs  and  teaching  of  Hiibmaier,  the 
barons  might  have  been  expected  to  make  some 
protest  at  least,  if  not  to  resist  forcibly.  For  their 
preacher  was  no  greater  heretic  than  themselves — 
no  worse  in  belief,  though  perhaps  more  influential, 
than  the  other  evangelical  preachers.  But  it  seems 
beyond  question  that  not  only  the  Lichtensteins, 
but  also  the  other  evangelical  preachers  of  Nikols- 
burg,  were  not  accused  at  this  time.  Indeed,  they 
were  treated  with  a  lenity  that  would  be  most  sur- 
prising, were  it  not  so  apparent  that  the  immediate 
object  of  wrath  was  Hiibmaier,  and  that  Austria 
was  willing  to  let  the  general  persecution  of  the 
Anabaptists  slumber  until  this  arch-heretic  had  been 
dispatched. 

But  if  everything  thus  points  towards  treason  as 
the  charge  on  which  Hiibmaier  was  surrendered,  it 
is  certain  that  when  once  Austria  got  her  claws 

on  him   the   charge  of  heresy  was  also  raised  and 

15 


226  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1527- 

pressed.  This  was  apparent  in  the  preliminary 
examination  given  him  at  Vienna,  before  he  was 
sent  to  Greisenstein,  and  his  imprisonment  there 
weighed  heavily  on  his  health  and  spirits,  Hiib- 
maier was  not  a  man  of  great  fortitude,  as  he  had 
already  shown  at  Zurich,  and  it  is  more  than  prob- 
able that  the  ardour  of  his  labours  at  Nikolsburg, 
following  the  hardships  he  had  previously  experi- 
enced, had  left  him  with  a  small  stock  of  physical 
strength.  In  his  bodily  weakness,  his  soul  began 
to  quail  at  the  prospect  of  torture  and  death,  and 
he  bethought  him  of  expedients  by  which  his  life 
might  again  be  saved.  The  intervention  of  his  old 
schoolmate  and  friend,  John  Faber,  now  vicar- 
general  of  the  Bishop  of  Constance,  occurred  to  him 
as  the  thing  most  likely  to  be  helpful.  Accordingly 
he  urgently  requested  the  favour  of  an  interview 
with  Faber,  and  the  request  was  granted.  Faber 
hastened  to  Greisenstein,  moved  in  part  possibly 
by  affection  for  his  old  school-fellow,  but  still  more 
by  hope  of  winning  to  the  truth  a  heretic  so  dis- 
tinguished. He  took  with  him  no  books  but  the 
Bible,  and  had  a  long  interview — or  rather,  a  series 
of  interviews — with  Hiibmaier,  of  which  he  has  left 


1528]  The  Martyr  227 

a  full  account.  It  is  open  to  suspicion  in  some  par- 
ticulars, but  in  the  main  bears  the  impress  of  truth. 
Faber  reached  Greisenstein  December  14th,  and 
in  his  visit  to  his  former  friend  was  accompanied  by 
Lord  Mark  of  Leopoldsdorf  and  Ambrozius  Salzer, 
rector  of  the  Vienna  gymnasium — neither  of  whom, 
however,  seems  to  have  taken  any  part  in  the  dis- 
cussion. Faber  began  with  a  long  address,  in  which 
he  expressed  the  sincere  love  he  had  never  ceased 
to  cherish  for  the  comrade  of  his  school-days,  and 
promised  his  aid  in  any  way  that  he  could  render 
it.  But  above  all  he  was  anxious  to  convince  his 
friend  of  his  errors,  and  lead  him  back  to  the  truth. 
To  this  Hiibmaier  is  said  to  have  replied: 

"Although  I  certainly  know  that  I  shall  have  to  die, 
and  that  I  have  deserved  the  penalties  that  await  me,  yet 
I  do  not  wish  that  the  poor  people,  who  have  received 
their  doctrine  from  me,  should  remain  in  error  on  my 
account.  Whatever  I  have  either  written  or  taught 
hitherto  was  not  for  my  own  advantage,  but  simply  from 
the  conviction  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  leading  me  to 
do  it,  and  at  this  moment  there  is  no  man  in  the  world 
whom  I  would  rather  see  or  hear  than  you.  Hence  I 
have  often  thought,  when  I  heard  you  speak  of  the 
articles  of  my  faith,  how  I  could  bring  it  about  for  you 
to  instruct  me,  and  if  I  were  found  in  error,  to  lead  me 
out  of  it;   and  for  this  reason  I  must  now  tender  my 


2  28  Balthasar  Ilubmaicr  [1527- 

humblest  thcanks  to  his  Royal  Grace  for  sending  you  to 
me,  and  as  far  as  my  strength  permits,  if  God  hears  my 
deepest  prayers,  I  will  show  myself  thankful  for  this 
favour.  Besides,  be  assured  that  I  will  obey  no  one  in 
the  whole  world  so  gladly  as  you  alone.  One  thing  I 
ask,  that  my  errors  be  refuted  by  passages  of  Holy 
Scripture,  so  that  I  may  not  be  pressed  to  act  contrary 
to  my  conscience."  * 

They  differed  at  the  very  beginning,  however,  on 
the  use  and  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  Faber 
urging  the  usual  Catholic  saying  that  the  Scriptures 
are  infallible  only  when  interpreted  by  an  infallible 
Church.  But  Hiibmaier  contended  that  any  be- 
liever, led  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  can  discern  the  true 
sense  of  Scripture,  at  least  so  far  as  all  things  neces- 
sary to  salvation  are  concerned.  Obscure  passages 
did  not  demand  an  authoritative  interpreter,  but 
only  that  they  be  compared  with  other  passages  less 
obscure;  and  thus  the  meaning  of  the  text  might 
be  authoritatively  obtained.  When  they  went  on 
to  the  chief  tenets  of  the  Anabaptists,  agreement 
was  still  less  possible.  Fabcr  could  not  convince 
Hiibmaier  from  the  Scriptures  that  infants  should 
be  baptised,  nor  that  there  is  any  change  in  the 
elements  in  the  eucharist,  nor  that   the  mass  is  a 

'  Quoted  by  Iloschek,  ii.,  255. 


1528]  The  Martyr  229 

sacrifice  for  sins.  On  other  questions  that  were 
debated,  if  we  may  believe  the  account  of  Faber, 
Hiibmaier  was  more  tractable,  and  suffered  himself 
to  be  understood  as  holding  nothing  that  could  be 
called  heretical  regarding  intercession  of  the  saints, 
the  Virgin  Mary,  purgatory,  fasts,  justification  by 
faith,  free  will,  and  the  like. 

The  interview  closed  with  this  exhortation  from 
Faber:  "What  I  have  said,  I  have  said  with  a  good, 
sincere  purpose.  Now  see  to  it,  and  take  care  of 
yourself  for  your  own  good."  To  which  Hiib- 
maier's  final  reply  was,  "Everything  that  you  have 
said  I  certainly  accept  with  thanks,  and  your  pre- 
sence at  this  place  is  dearer  than  that  of  any  one 
else  in  the  whole  world.  I  will  consider  everything 
in  a  becoming  way,  and  whatever  I  find  to  be  true 
in  my  conscience  I  will  publish  in  a  separate  work 
dedicated  to  his  Royal  Grace.  Be  yourself,  I  pray, 
a  faithful  defender  and  intercessor  for  me  in  this 
matter."  ' 

These  conversations  were  protracted  through 
several  days,  and  were  of  such  interest  to  both  par- 
ties that  at  least  once  the  debate  continued  until 


*  Hoschek,  ii.,  259. 


230  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1527- 

two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  was  resumed  again 
at  six  o'clock !  Their  conclusion  left  Hiibmaier  in 
a  decidedly  more  hopeful  state — there  seemed  to 
him  now  a  fair  prospect  that  his  life  might  be  saved. 
He  had  made  considerable  concessions,  it  is  true, 
but  he  doubtless  persuaded  himself  that  they  were 
not  of  great  moment  and  did  not  really  compromise 
his  integrity.  On  the  main  questions  of  the  su- 
preme authority  of  Scripture,  the  baptism  of  be- 
lievers only,  the  rejection  of  transubstantiation,  he 
could  congratulate  himself  that  he  had  stood  firm. 
His  ambiguous  statements  about  what  Melanchthon 
later  called  adiaphora,  he  probably  believed  to  be  of 
slight  importance. 

As  a  result  of  this  conference  and  debate  Hiib- 
maier sent  from  his  prison  to  Ferdinand,  under 
date  of  January  3,  1528,  a  formal  statement  {Rcchcn- 
schaft)  of  his  beliefs,  a  document  that  has  been 
called  by  some  of  his  biographers  a  recantation. 
The  following  summary  of  these  articles,  mostly  in 
the  words  of  the  author,  will  show  how  far  this  title 
is  justified  by  the  contents: 

"i.   Faitli  alone  is  not  enougli  for  salvation.     We  must 


1528]  The  Martyr  231 

prove  faith  with  works  of  love  toward  God  and  our 
neighbour. 

"2.  Since  mere  faith  does  not  suffice  for  salvation, 
good  works  must  also  be  added  to  it. 

"3.  Whoso  permits  his  faith  to  stand  by  itself  and 
does  not  prove  it  by  good  works,  he  changes  Christian 
liberty  into  liberty  of  the  flesh.  [This  condemns 
Luther's  doctrine.] 

"4.  In  this  miserable  and  dangerous  life,  it  is  most 
necessary  to  impress  unceasingly  on  the  people  the  fear 
of  God,  that  in  all  their  works  they  should  keep  God 
before  their  eyes. 

"5.  A  man  should  take  care  of  all  his  thoughts,  words 
and  acts,  according  to  the  plumb-line  of  the  divine  word, 
so  that  he  can  always  preserve  a  good  conscience  towards 
God. 

"6.  All  things  do  not  come  to  pass  of  necessity. 

"7.  He  who  denies  the  free  will  of  men  and  calls  it  an 
empty  claim,  is  nothing  in  himself,  nicknames  God  a 
tyrant,  charges  him  with  injustice,  and  gives  the  wicked 
excuse  to  remain  in  their  sins. 

"8.  To  avoid  evil  works  and  repent  of  our  sins  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  whole  gospel. 

"9.  The  blessed  Virgin  Mary  is,  and  always  was,  pure 
and  unspotted. 

"10.   Mary  is  the  mother  of  God. 

"11.   Christ  was  truly  God. 

"12.  Original  sin  is  not  only  an  infirmity  or  defect,  as 
some  write,  but  a  condemnable  sin,  if  we  are  not  in 
Christ  and  live  according  to  the  flesh.  It  is  the  mother 
and  root  of  all  sins. 

"13.  I  know  in  the  Scripture  no  ground  for  a  special 
purgatory,  outside  of  heaven  and  hell. 


232  Balthasar  Hubmaicr  [,527- 

"14.  Although  Christ  has  given  us  many  signs  to 
know  when  the  day  of  his  coming  is  at  our  door,  yet  no 
one  knows  this  day  save  God  alone,  I  have  firmly 
withstood  John  Hut  and  his  followers,  because  they 
have  named  a  specific  time  for  the  last  day,  namely, 
next  Whitsunday,  and  have  preached  this  to  the  people 
and  led  them  astray  [exhorting  them]  to  sell  house  and 
goods,  to  leave  wife  and  child,  and  have  misled  the 
simple  to  leave  their  work  and  run  after  them, — an  error 
that  has  sprung  from  a  gross  misunderstanding  of  the 
Scripture. 

"15.  The  prayers  of  Christ's  faithful  ones  are  advan- 
tageous. 

"16.  Concerning  confession  I  have  hitherto  preached 
that  the  Scriptures  teach  three  kinds  of  confession :  one 
before  God,  another  before  the  man  whom  we  have 
wronged,  and  the  third  before  the  Church  through  ac- 
knowledgment of  sins. 

"17.  The  Church  is  an  external  assembling  and  com- 
munity of  believers  in  one  Lord,  one  faith  and  one 
baptism. 

"18.  Whoever  preserves  his  virginity,  has  a  precious 
jewel.     Aged  widows  should  be  received  into  the  Church. 

"19.   Fasts  ought  to  be  observed. 

"20.  Sundays  should  be  observed.  Certain  holidays 
—  such  as  Christmas,  Easter,  Whitsunday — •!  am  well 
contented  [to  observe],  but  not  so  large  a  number,  as  I 
disputed  more  than  twenty  years  ago  at  Freiburg,  De 
non  multiplicaiuHs  festis. 

"21.   On  the  fast  days  one  should  eat  no  meat. 

"22.  The  ten  commandments  should  be  frequently 
taught  to  the  people  in  these  troublous  days.  I  have 
taught  this  in  my  catechism,  where  I  have  set  down  the 


1528]  The  Martyr  233 

ten  commandments  as  the  first  beginning  of  a  Christian 
life. 

"23,  Excommunication  is  a  necessary  medicine  in 
Christianity. 

"24.   The  intercessions  of  the  saints  in  our  behalf  are  / 
not  in  vain. 

"25,  26.  Most  illustrious,  most  mighty  king,  most 
gracious  lord,  I  am  strongly  opposed  to  the  teaching  of 
John  Hut  and  his  followers  regarding  baptism  and  the 
sacrament,  and  shall  oppose  them  in  teaching  and  writ- 
ings all  my  life  so  far  as  God  gives  me  power.  For  I 
can  say,  on  the  ground  of  the  divine  word  and  with  good 
conscience,  that  he  has  perverted  both  articles.  I  have 
no  doubt  that  I  should,  with  God's  help,  soon  abolish 
his  baptism  and  supper.  I  have  taught  nothing  concern- 
ing baptism,  save  that  it  should  be  public  confession 
with  the  mouth  of  Christian  faith,  also  a  renunciation 
one  must  make  of  the  devil  and  all  his  works.  Therefore 
the  baptism  I  taught  and  Hut's  baptism  are  as  far  asunder 
as  heaven  and  hell.  Also  as  to  the  supper,  I  trust  in 
God  I  shall  not  bear  his  burden. 

"  But  also,  your  royal  majesty,  see,  further,  that  I  am 
not  stiff-necked  and  self-willed,  since  I  offer  to  defer  to 
the  next  [general]  Council  [of  the  Church]  the  two 
articles  I  have  taught  and  others  pertaining  to  faith,  and 
as  to  these  will  gladly  submit  myself  to  the  Church;  and 
will  in  the  meantime  permit  these  articles  to  remain  in 
abeyance,  and  as  to  the  others  will  so  show  and  conduct 
myself  that  your  royal  majesty  will  hereafter  receive  a 
special  pleasure  that  I  have  laboured  well  and  faithfully. 
But  if  your  royal  majesty  will  not  await  a  council,  then 
I  beg  to  defend  these  articles  with  the  Holy  Scriptures 
before  your  majesty's   honourable   councillors   and  the 


234  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1527- 

university.  Your  majesty  may  then  be  judge.  I  would 
gladly  so  hold  myself  that  I  may  remain  safe  before  God 
in  my  conscience  and  can  stand  with  my  soul  before  the 
last  judgment.  I  will  also  earnestly  pray  God  day  and 
night,  that  he  will  of  his  divine  grace  give  me  to  know 
means  and  way  through  which  your  royal  majesty  and 
the  whole  of  Christendom  may  come  to  Christian  welfare 
and  peace.  God,  who  is  with  me  in  my  distress,  will 
hear  me;  and  if  your  royal  majesty  should  be  well  pleas- 
ing, I  would  gladly  draw  up  and  write  an  ordinance  of 
Christian  government,  whereby  with  God's  grace  and 
the  help  of  their  imperial  and  royal  majesties,  we  could 
come  right  soon  to  peace  and  unity. 

"  27.  Respect  and  honour  should  be  paid  to  the  au- 
thority of  magistrates  and  laws,  as  set  forth  in  the  book 
On  the  Sword;  and  all  conspirators  and  rebels  are  to  be 
condemned. 

"  Wherefore,  O  most  mighty  and  most  gracious  king, 
I  pray,  by  God  and  his  mercy,  that  your  royal  majesty — 
as  the  merciful  lord  of  Austria,  of  whom  always  and 
everywhere  this  praise  and  title  of  the  Merciful  has  been 
written,  and  especially  since  Ur.  John  Faber,  and  Master 
Max  Beckh,  bishop  in  Austria,  and  Master  Salzer,  rector 
of  the  University  of  Vienna,  have  shown  me  so  great 
grace  and  favour — may  show  grace  and  mercy  to  me,  an 
imprisoned  and  afflicted  man,  who  now  lies  in  great  sick- 
ness, cold  and  trouble.  For  with  God's  help  I  will  so 
conduct,  order  and  hold  myself  that  your  royal  majesty 
shall  have  pleasure  therefrom.  The  people  I  will  with 
great  earnestness  and  utmost  diligence  urge  to  devotion, 
fear  of  God  and  obedience,  wherein  1  would  always 
bring  them.  Your  royal  majesty  and  his  brother  need 
have  no  doubt  regarding  my  pledge;  my  Yea  shall  be 


1528]  The  Martyr  235 

Yea,  and  so  it  will  be  found  at  the  last  day.     So  help  me 
God.     Amen."  ' 

On  all  but  two  points,  baptism  and  the  Lord's 
Supper,  Hiibmaier  thus  indicated  his  willingness  to 
conform  to  the  teachings  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
Faber  adds  in  his  statement  that  his  friend  denied 
that  it  was  an  article  of  faith  that  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  are  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar. 
If  this  statement  is  correct,  it  only  shows  that 
Hiibmaier's  strong  point  was  not  the  history  of  the 
Church  and  its  doctrines,  which  is  abundantly 
shown  by  all  his  writings.  His  strength  lay  in  his 
knowledge  of  the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
his  ability  to  quote  these  freely  in  support  of  his 
contentions.  Arguing  from  the  Scriptures  he  was 
a  Samson  in  controversy ;  when  he  began  to  speak 
of  the  Fathers  and  history  he  became  as  other  men 
— and  weaker  than  many. 

Precisely  what  he  expected  to  accomplish  by 
composing  such  a  statement  and  appeal  as  the  fore- 
going, it  is  difificult  to  conjecture.      He  can  hardly 

'  In  the  less  important  articles  abridged,  but  for  the  most  part  in 
Htibmaier's  own  words,  as  preserved  in  MS.  in  the  archives  of  the 
Ministry  of  Justice,  discovered  by  Beck,  and  first  printed  by  Loserth, 
pp.  176-180.  A  similar  abstract,  less  full  and  correct,  in  Hoschek, 
ii.,  504,  505. 


236  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1527- 

havo  had  a  serious  expectation  of  saving  his  life, 
even  by  a  complete  recantation.  If  he  became 
reconciled  to  the  Roman  Church,  and  so  escaped 
burning  as  a  heretic,  there  remained  the  charge  of 
treason,  for  which  his  head  must  answer.  After  all 
the  provocation  the  Austrian  Government  had  re- 
ceived from  him,  now  that  it  had  him  safely  in  its 
power  it  was  little  likely  to  permit  him  to  escape. 
If  Hubmaier  could  not  see  this  clearly,  he  must 
have  been  blind  indeed.  Yet  the  only  rational  ex- 
planation of  this  strange  afTair  seems  to  be  that  in 
his  suffering  and  despair  he  clutched  at  the  vain 
hope  of  mercy,  and  now  once  more  (as  formerly  at 
Zurich)  was  prepared  to  deny  much  that  he  had 
taught,  if  not  all,  to  save  his  life.  Though  he  still 
holds  to  his  belief  about  the  sacraments,  his  pro- 
fession of  willingness  to  submit  to  the  decision  of  an 
Ecumenical  Council  even  in  this  makes  one  suspect 
that  a  promise  of  release  would  have  drawn  from 
him  a  still  further  concession. 

Hiibmaier's  conduct  in  these  closing  months  of 
his  life  is  far  from  heroic.  The  praise  of  unswerv- 
ing constancy  to  the  truth  cannot  be  awarded  him. 
It  is  impossible  not  to  draw  a  parallel  between  him 


1528]  The  Martyr  237 

and  a  more  famous  man  of  this  period,  Archbishop 
Cranmer.  Their  cases  were  strikingly  similar,  for 
both  had  been  guilty  of  acts  of  rebellion  and  treason, 
as  well  as  the  advocacy  of  heresy.  They  were  alike 
also  in  possessing  more  moral  than  physical  courage 
— or  perhaps  it  was  only  fortitude  in  which  they 
were  really  deficient.  Men  differ  greatly  in  their 
capacity  to  endure  excruciating  physical  pain,  and 
no  one  who  has  not  had  the  experience  can  be  quite 
certain  how  he  would  himself  behave  under  torture. 
Savonarola  is  still  a  third  example,  and  an  eminent 
one,  of  failure  to  bear,  as  well  as  the  average  man, 
this  cruel  test ;  but  the  world  has  pardoned  him  this 
one  defect  in  an  otherwise  heroic  character.  It  has 
done  the  same  in  the  case  of  Cranmer,  rightly  judg- 
ing that  his  fortitude  in  the  supreme  hour  out-weighs 
and  all  but  obliterates  his  earlier  shameful  defection. 
Shall  the  world  do  less  in  the  case  of  Hubmaier? 
Should  we  not  see  in  him  one  in  whom  the  spirit 
was  willing  and  only  the  flesh  weak?  He  recanted 
no  more  of  his  former  opinions,  certainly,  than  did 
Savonarola  and  Cranmer,  if  as  much.  He  cannot 
be  proved  to  have  denied  anything  that  he  had  held 
to  be  fundamental  in  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures. 


238  Balthasar  Iliibmaicr  [1527- 

As  to  his  political  conduct,  he  had  always  main- 
tained that  to  be  blameless,  and  he  never  admitted 
himself  to  have  been  guilty  of  treason  or  sedition, 
even  in  hope  of  saving  his  life.  And  in  the  end,  as 
to  Cranmer  and  Savonarola,  strength  was  given  him 
to  meet  his  doom  with  a  constancy  and  calm  forti- 
tude that  moved  the  admiration  of  all  beholders. 

Ferdinand  was  very  far  indeed  from  being  moved 
by  any  feelings  of  pity  or  clemency  towards  Hiib- 
maier  or  any  of  the  Anabaptists.  On  the  contrary, 
it  could  not  have  been  long  after  the  reception  of 
the  above  appeal — supposing  that  he  ever  really 
saw  or  heard  of  it  —  that  he  began  to  prod  his 
ofificials,  and  require  them  to  show  more  zeal  in  the 
prosecution  of  such  heretics  as  they  already  had  in 
prison,  and  to  search  actively  for  others.  Accord- 
ingly, on  March  4th,  his  regent  for  Lower  Austria 
sent  an  apology  to  the  King,  in  which  he  recounted 
what  had  been  accomplished,  in  spite  of  great  diffi- 
culties, towards  the  detection  and  punishment  of 
the  heretics.  The  following  paragraph  from  this 
document  especially  concerns  us: 

"  As  to  the  case  of  Dr.  Ralthasar  Htibmaier,  through 
the  bishop  and   several  judicious   theologians   we  have 


1528]  The  Martyr  239 

made  ample  arrangements  that  he  shall  be  dealt  with 
according  to  the  command  of  your  majesty.  That  we 
have  forwarded  no  report  concerning  his  trial  for  so  long 
a  time  is  the  fault  of  his  fickleness.  For  though  Hiib- 
maier  promised  the  bishop  and  the  other  doctors  opposed 
to  him,  in  the  hearing  that  has  taken  place,  to  recant  his 
teaching  and  belief,  and  to  send  such  recantation  to  the 
bishop  within  a  specified  time,  he  has  not  yet  kept  his 
pledge,  but  has  presented  only  an  ambiguous  statement 
{eine  halbe  Meinung),  and  no  completely  valid  recanta- 
tion. Wherefore  the  bishop  was  prevailed  upon — against 
our  earnest  solicitation,  according  to  your  majesty's  com- 
mand for  dealing  with  Hiibmaier — to  let  him  set  down  in 
writing  his  reasons  for  sustaining  his  doctrine  concerning 
rebaptism  and  the  venerable  sacrament.  With  the  com- 
position of  this  writing  Hiibmaier  has  busied  himself  up 
to  last  Saturday,  the  last  of  February.  So  soon  as  it 
comes  to  us  through  the  bishop,  we  shall  forward  it  to 
your  royal  majesty,  and  it  ought  to  be  already  in  your 
majesty's  hands."  ' 

From  this  it  appears  that  this  final  statement  was 
finished  February  29th.  A  few  days  elapsed  for 
transmission  of  it  to  the  King,  and  then  the  order 
came  that  Hiibmaier  should  be  brought  back  to 
Vienna.     He  arrived  about  March  3rd,  and  the  final 


'  Nothing  further  is  known  of  this  last  writing  of  Hiibmaier's, 
except  that  it  could  have  contained  no  recantation.  Further  search 
may  discover  it  among  the  Austrian  archives.  The  document  from 
which  the  above  extract  is  taken  was  found  by  Dr.  Beck  in  the 
archives  of  the  Ministry  of  Justice,  and  is  given  by  Loserth,  p.   183. 


240  Balthasar  Hubmaier  [1527- 

process  began.  Few  details  arc  known,  but  it  is 
certain  that  he  suffered  on  the  rack,  and  possibly 
other  tortures  were  applied.  On  this  occasion, 
however,  he  remained  firm  ;  he  could  not  be  induced 
to  retract  his  teachings  regarding  baptism  and  the 
eucharist.  His  double  condemnation  followed,  as  a 
matter  of  course.  His  friend,  Dr.  Faber,  published 
immediately  after  his  death  a  little  pamphlet  called 
the  Reason  Why  the  Patron  and  First  Beginner  of 
the  Anabaptists,  Doctor  Balthasar  Hucbniayr,  was 
Burned  at  Vienna  on  the  loth  of  March,  1^28.  In 
this  is  given,  apparently  from  official  sources,  the 
record  of  the  final  condemnation,  as  follows: 

"  First,  Dr.  Balthasar  Hubmayer  has  confessed  that  at 
Waldshut  he  preached  rebellion  against  the  government, 
which  does  not  tend  to  peace,  but  is  contrary  to  God, 
right  and  his  conscience,  whence  arose  much  perversity 
and  revolt  against  the  government  and  great  shedding  of 
blood. 

*'  Again,  he  has  confessed  how  from  Waldshut  he  had 
given  counsel  and  written  a  letter  to  his  royal  majesty, 
which  served  better  to  promote  rebellion  than  obedience. 

"  Again,  he  has  also  confessed  that  while  at  the  afore- 
said Waldshut  he  went  into  their  houses  and  said  to  them 
that  their  cause  was  just,  whether  it  should  turn  out  that 
they  died  or  recovered;  he  had  also  counselled  and 
helped  them  to  swear  a  league,  to  oppose  all  that  would 


1528]  The  Martyr  241 

not  abide  by  the  doctrine  that  he  preached,  in  which  he 
confessedly  acted  contrary  to  God  and  his  conscience 
and  the  government. 

"Again,  he  has  also  confessed  that  he  enlarged  and 
expounded  the  articles  of  the  peasants,  which  were  sent 
to  him  from  the  camp,  and  that  he  imagined  such  as  re- 
ceived the  same  to  be  Christian  and  reasonable.  He 
confesses  also  that  in  this  he  erred  and  did  wrong. 

"  Again,  he  has  also  confessed  how  it  happened  that 
many  of  the  magistracy  of  the  city  of  Waldshut  went  to 
Lauffenberg.  There  also  Hans  M  tiller,  the  architect,  in 
place  of  the  mayor,  permitted  the  community  to  be  called 
together  in  the  council  house,  and  he  announced  to  them 
the  decision  of  the  Diet  that  according  to  the  will  of  his 
royal  majesty  the  city  should  be  overwhelmed  and  the 
citizens  should  be  punished,  and  advised  all  who  would 
not  suffer  such  things  to  withdraw  from  the  city  until 
affairs  should  be  better.  Upon  that  Dr.  Balthazar  pub- 
licly took  leave  of  everybody,  and  went  home  and  said 
he  would  not  be  in  the  report.  Thereafter  early  in  the 
morning  he  went  out  of  the  city,  came  by  himself  to 
Zurich,  and  was  there  imprisoned  on  account  of  the 
second  baptism,  since  the  same  was  opposed  to  Zwingli, 
to  whom  the  people  of  Zurich  adhere.  He  was  also  at 
Zurich  racked  on  account  of  anabaptism,  and  compelled 
to  testify  who  had  led  him  into  such  baptism,  and  why 
he  had  baptised  in  their  jurisdiction.  Therefore  he 
made  a  public  recantation  of  his  opposition  to  infant 
baptism. 

"  Again,  he  also  confessed  that  he  had  so  preached, 
and  added  counsel  and  deed,  in  order  that  he  could 
thereby  live  a  good  life  and  be  his  own  master!  In  all 
of  which  he  confesses  that  he  did   wrong.     Also   their 


242  Balthasar  Hiibmaier  [1527- 

reason  and  object  was  to  have  no  government,  but  only 
from  their  own  number  to  draw  out  and  elect  one. 

"Again,  the  aforesaid  Doctor  Balthasar  confesses  that 
he  does  not  at  all  believe  in  the  sacrament  of  the  altar 
nor  in  infant  baptism. 

"Therefore,  Doctor  Balthasar,  on  account  of  this 
crime  and  condemned  heresy  is  condemned  to  the  fire."  ' 

Though  urged  to  confess  to  a  priest  and  receive 
the  last  rites  of  the  Church  before  his  death,  Hiib- 
maier steadfastly  refused.  On  March  loth,  he  was 
led  forth  to  his  death,  his  wife  (of  whom  it  is  related 
that  "she  was  hardened  in  the  same  heresy,  more 
constant  than  her  husband  ")  exhorting  him  to  for- 
titude. The  story  that  he  was  borne  through  the 
streets  to  his  execution  on  a  cart,  while  his  flesh  was 
torn  by  red-hot  pincers,  does  not  rest  on  the  best 
authority.  We  have  the  testimony  of  an  eye-wit- 
ness" to  his  end,  and  the  details  are  self-evidencing. 
As  he  was  led  to  the  place  of  execution,  he  from 
time  to  time  repeated  for  his  own  consolation  verses 
of  Scripture,  and  remained  to  the  last  "fixed  like  an 
immovable  rock  in  his  heresy."  He  was  accom- 
panied by  an  armed  troop,  and  a  large  crowd,  and 

'  Loserth,  Beilage,  No.  lo. 

'  Stephan  SprQgel,  dean  of  the  philosophical  faculty  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Vienna.     Quoted  by  Loserth,  pp.  1S5-187. 


1528]  The  Martyr  243 

as  he  came  to  the  pile  of  fagots  he  Hfted  up  his  voice 
and  cried  in  the  Swiss  dialect: 

"O  gracious  God,  forgive  my  sins  in  my  great 
torment.  O  Father,  I  give  thee  thanks  that  thou 
wilt  to-day  take  me  out  of  this  vale  of  tears.  With 
joy  I  desire  to  die  and  come  to  thee.  O  Lamb,  O 
Lamb,  that  takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world !  O 
God,  into  thy  hands  I  commit  my  spirit." 

To  the  people  he  said,  "O  dear  brothers,  if  I  have 
injured  any,  in  word  or  deed,  may  he  forgive  me 
for  the  sake  of  my  merciful  God.  I  forgive  all 
those  that  have  done  me  harm." 

While  his  clothes  were  being  removed:  "From 
thee  also,  O  Lord,  were  the  clothes  stripped.  My 
clothes  will  I  gladly  leave  here,  only  preserve  my 
spirit  and  my  soul,  I  beseech  thee."  Then  he 
added  in  Latin:  "O  Lord,  into  thy  hands  I  commit 
my  spirit,"  and  spoke  no  more  in  Latin. 

As  they  rubbed  sulphur  and  gunpowder  into  his 
beard,  which  he  wore  rather  long,  he  said,  "Oh  salt 
me  well,  salt  me  well."  And  raising  his  head,  he 
called  out :  "  O  dear  brothers,  pray  God  that  he 
will  forgive  me  my  guilt  in  this  my  death.  I  will 
die  in  the  Christian  faith." 


244  Balthasar  Hiibmaier     [1527-1528] 

When  the  wood  was  kindled  and  he  saw  the  fire, 
he  said  with  a  loud  voice:  "O  my  Heavenly  Father, 
O  my  gracious  God !  "  As  his  hair  and  beard  burned 
he  cried  out,  "O  Jesus,  Jesus!  " 

And  then,  overwhelmed  with  smoke,  he  breathed 
out  his  soul.  The  one  who  relates  his  death,  no 
friendly  and  sympathetic  observer,  adds  that  he  felt 
more  joy  than  pain  in  thus  witnessing  his  faith  with 
his  life.  Three  days  later  his  devoted  wife,  with  a 
great  stone  tied  to  her  neck,  constant  to  the  very 
last  in  testifying  to  her  faith,  was  thrown  into  the 
waters  of  the  Danube. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  SUPPRESSION  OF  THE  MORAVIAN  ANABAPTISTS 

TTUBMAIER'S  death  was  popularly  likened  to 
*■  ■■  that  of  John  Hus,  and  like  the  Bohemian 
leader,  he  was  regarded  as  an  innocent  martyr — we 
have  the  word  of  his  friend  Faber  for  that.  The 
evangelical  Christians  mourned  the  loss  of  a  man  of 
light  and  leading;  Catholics  rejoiced  that  one  of 
their  most  formidable  opponents  had  been  for  ever 
silenced.  The  testimonies  borne  to  the  rank  of 
Hiibmaier  as  an  evangelical  leader,  praises  of  his 
learning  and  eloquence,  are  numerous,  emphatic, 
and  convincing.  Kessler  spoke  of  him  as  "the 
apxn<^ocrafta7iri<yra  of  Nikolsburg, "  and  he  probably 
imagined  that  to  be  Greek,  and  to  mean  "chief 
Anabaptist."  Vadian,  the  burgomaster  of  St.  Gall, 
says  that  he  was  cloqiicntissiimini  sane  ct  Jmmanissi- 
'}niim  viriim  (assuredly  a  very  eloquent  and  culti- 
vated man).     Bullinger  describes  him  as  woJil  be^-cdet 

245 


246  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

und  zicmlicJi  belesen  gewesen  abcr  cvics  mistdtcn  Ge- 
mtitSy  mit  dcm  er  hin  und  her  fiel  (a  man  of  good 
repute  and  become  tolerably  well  read,  but  of  an 
unstable  disposition,  through  which  he  was  much 
misled).' 

As  to  the  estimate  of  him  by  the  Roman  Church, 
the  letter  of  Faber,  written  to  two  of  his  friends  on 
the  very  day  of  Hiibmaier's  martyrdom,  is  a  good 
example : 

"  As  to  Vienna,  I  can  give  you  no  news,  except  this 
one  item:  we  must  henceforth  fight  the  plague  of  the 
Anabaptists.  You  already  know  how,  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  one  of  their  heads,  numerous  others  straightway 
grow  up!  So  their  Dr.  Balthazar,  who  has  been  a  long 
time  in  prison  because  of  his  heretical  doctrines,  has 
now  suffered  the  death  penalty.  We  ought  to  hope  that 
a  large  part  of  the  heretics  will  vanish  from  the  earth,  so 
soon  as  an  example  has  been  made  of  the  man  who  was 
the  head  of  the  Anabaptists  and  the  inspirer  of  other 
criminals."  * 

This  is,  to  be  sure,  but  the  opinion  of  one  cleric; 
but  the  Roman  Church  showed  its  official  estimate 


'  One  of  the  Anabaptist  chronicles  speaks  of  him  as  in  Latenische 
Grichischer  und  Hebriiischer  sprach  wo  I  erfaren.  Beck,  Geschichts- 
Biicher,  p.  52.  But  we  have  seen  reason  ti)  conclude  that  his  ac- 
quirements in  Greek  and  Hebrew  were  limited. 

'•'Quoted  by  Loserth,  p.  157. 


THE  TOWER  OF  THE  CASTLE  AT   NURNBERQ,  IN  WHICH  ANABAPTISTS 
WERE  IMPRISONED. 


The  Moravian  Anabaptists        247 

of  the  importance  of  this  heretic,  and  the  dangerous 
quality  of  his  influence,  by  putting  his  writings  on 
the  Index,  along  with  those  of  Luther  and  Zwingli, 
as  the  most  pestilent  literature  produced  by  the 
Reformation.' 

It  would  be  useless  to  deny  that  the  death  of  such 
a  man  was  a  heavy  blow  to  the  Anabaptist  cause  in 
Moravia,  and  to  the  Nikolsburg  church  in  particular, 
but  it  was  by  no  means  fatal.  Lord  Leonhardt 
Lichtenstein  and  his  brother  were  permitted  in  due 
time  to  return  to  their  estates,  and  apparently  con- 
tinued their  connection  with  the  Anabaptists.  It  is 
certain  that  they  could  not  be  induced  to  do  any- 
thing to  persecute  the  brethren,  even  if  they  par- 
tially withdrew  from  them.  But  the  death  of 
Hiibmaier  was  the  signal  for  active  measures  to  be 
undertaken  against  all  Anabaptists  by  Ferdinand's 
Government,  which  the  Moravian  nobles  might  do 
nothing  actively  to  help,  but  which,  on  the  other 


'  In  the  Index  Librorum  Prohibitorum,  drawn  up  in  1619  for  the 
Spanish  Inquisition  by  Archbishop  Bernhard  of  Sandoval,  he  is 
named  four  times  :  Balthasar  Pacimontanus,  Balthasar  Hubmaier, 
Balthasar  Hilcmerus,  Balthasar  Isubmarus.  His  name  stands  fourth 
among  the  hereticoruiii  capita  aut  duces,  preceded  only  by  those  of 
Luther,  Zwingli,  and  Calvin.  Schwenckfeld  is  the  only  other  heretic 
named. 


248  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

hand,  they  dared  not  openly  oppose.  At  the  same 
time,  they  did  what  they  could  to  discourage  the 
more  extreme  and  fanatical  among  the  Anabaptists, 
and  thus  lessen  the  pretext  for  severe  measures 
against  them ;  though  we  do  not  again  read  of  so 
energetic  proceedings  as  the  imprisonment  of  Hans 
Hut  in  the  Nikolsburg  Castle. 

As  the  danger  of  a  Turkish  invasion  became 
more  pressing,  in  the  summer  of  1528  it  became 
more  and  more  a  practical  question  among  the 
Nikolsburg  brethren  whether  a  Christian  man  could 
lawfully  take  up  arms  in  self-defence,  or  pay  a  war- 
tax  for  defence  against  this  foe.  The  party  that 
had  agreed  with  Hubmaier  became  known  as  the 
/  Schwertler,  or  men  of  the  sword ;  while  their  oppo- 
nents were  named  the  Stabler,  or  men  of  the  staff, 
i.  c,  of  peace  and  non-resistance.  Jacob  Wide- 
mann  was  the  leader  of  the  Stabler,  and  gradually 
I  the  idea  of  community  of  goods  became  even  more 
important  in  their  eyes  than  opposition  to  the 
sword.  It  was  at  length  with  them  the  doctrine 
of  a  standing  or  falling  Church,  since  they  were 
firmly  convinced  that  a  true  Christian  brotherhood 
could  exist  on  no  other  basis.     Peace  was  not  so 


The  Moravian  Anabaptists        249 

much  disturbed  among  the  Nikolsburg  brethren  as 
made  impossible,  unless  all  would  adopt  the  views 
of  Widemann  and  make  their  practice  conform 
thereto. 

Lord  Lichtenstein  used  every  effort  to  induce 
greater  moderation  on  the  part  of  the  Stabler,  and 
to  restore  unity  in  the  brotherhood.  He  seems 
finally  to  have  intimated  that  this  faction  must 
either  be  less  contentious  or  leave  his  domains,  and 
so  they  chose  to  leave.  According  to  the  chron- 
icle, he  rode  with  them  to  the  boundary,  drank  a 
parting  glass  with  them,  and  wished  them  God- 
speed. They  went  their  way  to  Austerlitz, — a  town 
about  thirty  miles  to  the  north,  near  Briinn,  the 
capital  of  the  province, —  in  later  years  the  scene 
of  one  of  Napoleon's  great  victories.  Here  they 
established  themselves. 

The  proprietors  of  Austerlitz  were  ready  to  wel- 
come them  and  to  afford  them  entire  liberty.  It  is 
even  said  that  waggons  were  sent  to  meet  them  at 
the  boundary,  where  they  had  been  dismissed  by 
Lord  Lichtenstein,  and  to  help  them  on  their  way. 
They  were  given  permission  to  build  houses 
and  to  live  their  lives  in  their  own  way;   and  the 


250  Balthasar  Hiibmaicr 

experiment  of  an  Anabaptist  community  was  forth- 
with begun.  For  some  years  they  suffered  no  in- 
terference, and  so  the  experiment  was  conducted 
under  most  favourable  conditions.  The  nobles 
were  glad  to  encourage  them,  for  population  was 
sparse,  labour  was  scarce,  and  apart  from  their  re- 
ligious notions  the  Anabaptists  were  known  to  be 
settlers  of  the  most  desirable  sort,  sober  and  indus- 
trious. The  Austerlitz  colony  did  not  long  remain 
the  sole  Anabaptist  community:  a  colony  soon 
went  forth  and  settled  at  Auspitz,  nearly  midway 
between  Nikolsburg  and  Austerlitz,  and  gradually 
others  "swarmed,"  until  there  are  said  to  have 
been  by  1536  no  fewer  than  eighty-six  settlements, 
mostly  numbering  several  hundred  persons  each, 
one  being  as  large  as  two  thousand.  And  in  every 
case  these  communities  seem  to  have  enjoyed  a 
uniform,  steady  prosperity. 

Socialistic  ideas  often  found  advocates  during  the 
Reformation  period,  but  here  in  Moravia  was  the 
most  conspicuous,  if  not  the  only,  instance  of  a 
practical  experiment  in  the  working  out  of  these 
ideas.  Jacob  Huter  is  credited  with  the  chief  part 
in  the  organisation  of  these  Moravian  communities, 


The  Moravian  Anabaptists        251 

for  Widemann,  though  a  born  agitator  and  a 
would-be  despot,  proved  himself  to  have  no  real 
gifts  of  leadership  and  organisation.  Huter  came 
to  Moravia  from  the  Tyrol  soon  after  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Austerlitz  community,  and  for  the  next 
seven  years  spent  much  of  his  time  there,  perman- 
ently impressing  his  ideas  of  organisation  on  the 
communities. 

The  unit  of  all  these  communities  was  the  "house- 
hold," consisting  in  most  cases  of  several  hundred 
souls,  all  occupying  a  common  building.  Over  each 
of  these  groups  was  a  general  superintendent, 
the  "householder."  The  community  idea  was 
carried  into  all  the  details  of  living :  the  household 
had  a  common  kitchen,  a  common  bakehouse,  a 
common  brewhouse,  a  common  schoolhouse,  a 
common  lying-in  room,  a  common  nursery,  a  com- 
mon sick-room,  and  an  order  of  "sisters"  were 
nurses  of  the  children  and  the  sick.  There  was  also 
a  common  dining-room,  but  in  other  respects  each 
family  lived  its  own    separate  life.'     Clothing  and 


'  This  "household"  is  an  anticipation  of  the  phalanstery  of  Four- 
rier,  so  complete  in  its  details  as  almost  to  justify  a  suspicion  that 
some  account  of  these  Moravian  communities  had  become  known  to 
the  French  economist. 


252  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

bcd-lincn  and  such  personal  effects  were  treated  as 
individual  property,  but  all  else  was  owned  in  com- 
mon. There  must  necessarily  have  been  much 
interference  with  personal  liberty  under  such  a 
system.  For  example,  marriage  outside  of  the 
community  was  strictly  forbidden  and  was  punished 
by  instant  expulsion.  The  young  sisters  who 
manifested  some  reluctance  to  marrying  the  only 
eligible  suitors  were  virtually  compelled  to  matri- 
mony. 

Economically  the  experiment  was  successful — as 
to  that  the  testimony  is  ample  and  unanimous. 
There  were  no  drones  allowed  in  these  busy  hives, 
and  there  was  no  poverty.  The  socialist  ideal  of 
equal  effort  by  all,  and  equal  sharing  by  all  in  the 
fruits  of  labour,  was  fully  realised.  Industry  and 
frugality,  together  with  good  management,  had 
their  reward,  and  the  communities  without  excep- 
tion became  prosperous,  not  to  say  rich.  It 
cannot  be  safely  argued  from  this  fact,  however, 
that  a  general  socialistic  organisation  of  a  na- 
tion would  be  economically  successful;  for  these 
were  a  picked  people  in  more  respects  than  one, 
with  much  less    than  their  due    proportion  of   the 


The  Moravian  Anabaptists        253 

aged  and  disabled  and  incorrigibly  lazy,  and  far 
more  than  their  proportion  of  able  and  willing 
workers. 

Primarily  these  communities  were  agricultural. 
Their  fields  were  the  best  cultivated  and  bore  the 
largest  crops  in  all  the  region.  Moravia  was  then 
as  now  celebrated  for  its  breed  of  horses,  and  those 
sent  to  market  from  these  communities  were  es- 
teemed the  best  and  brought  the  highest  prices. 
Men  from  these  households  were  sought  by  the 
landowners  of  the  region  as  managers  of  their  farms, 
stables,  vineyards,  mills.  But  though  primarily 
agricultural,  the  communities  were  skilled  in  the 
handicrafts  also,  and  in  a  little  time  gained  almost 
a  monopoly  of  certain  manufactures — as  tailors, 
smiths,  weavers,  they  had  no  superiors.  The  knives, 
scythes,  shoes,  stockings,  bolting-cloths,  handker- 
chiefs, and  similar  wares  sent  forth  from  these 
centres  of  industry  were  highly  esteemed  and 
eagerly  bought.  They  were  known  to  be  honest 
goods,  at  fair  prices. 

Ecclesiastically,  these  communities  differed  from 
any  others  called  Anabaptists.  They  had  a  chief 
pastor  or  bishop,  an  officer  not  found  among  others 


2  54  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

of  the  sect,  and  perhaps  adopted  from  the  Bohem- 
ian Brethren.  Under  this  head  there  were  in  each 
community  "ministers  of  the  word"  (generally,  not 
necessarily,  a  plural  eldership)  and  "ministers  of 
necessities,"  or  deacons.  One  of  the  ministers  of 
the  word  was  usually  the  "householder."  Nobody 
might  preach  until  he  had  been  called  to  this  office 
by  the  vote  of  the  community,  even  though  he  had 
been  an  honoured  preacher  elsewhere,  and  this  rule 
was  rigidly  enforced.  The  preacher  was  a  man  of 
much  authority  among  them — indeed,  he  might 
easily  become,  and  in  too  many  cases  actually  was, 
a  despot. 

But  though  economically  prosperous,  these  com- 
munities cannot  be  regarded  as  in  other  respects 
a  satisfactory  realisation  of  the  Anabaptist  ideal. 
Nor  did  they  realise  their  own  ideal  of  a  perfect 
brotherhood ;  in  proportion  as  the  community  pro- 
spered, the  spirit  of  real  brotherly  love  declined. 
Nowhere  among  Anabaptists,  seldom  anywhere 
among  Christian  people,  has  a  more  unlovely  spirit 
developed.  The  selfish  domineering  of  the  "house- 
holder" preachers:  the  strife  between  those  who 
wished  to  be  preachers   and    those    who,    already 


The  Moravian  Anabaptists        255 

occupying  that  office,  refused  to  share  their  power 
with  others;  the  murmurings  and  bickerings  and 
jealousies  among  the  members;  the  harsh  intoler- 
ance shown  to  those  who  failed  to  abide  by  the 
community  rules ;  the  unchristian  severity  with 
which  the  excluded  were  treated — these  and  such- 
like things  have  seldom  been  paralleled,  and  they 
are  the  harder  to  forgive  since  they  were  done  in 
the  name  of  a  more  perfect  Christian  brotherhood. 
All  Anabaptists  seem  disposed  to  a  reckless  use  of 
the  "ban,"  but  these  communities  alone  would,  in 
Christ's  name,  expel  an  erring  brother  and  leave 
him  to  starve,  rather  than  give  him  food  or  drink. 
Their  Roman  Catholic  persecutors  were  not  more 
cruel  to  these  "brothers"  than  they  were  to  each 
other. 

The  success  of  these  socialistic  Anabaptists,  and 
the  shelter  given  to  them  in  Moravia  for  some  years, 
led  to  a  great  immigration  of  the  brethren  from  the 
surrounding  regions.  Historians,  not  too  favour- 
ably inclined  towards  the  sect,  estimate  the  total 
membership  of  these  groups  as  high  as  seventy 
thousand.'     The    noble    landowners   were   glad   to 

'  Hast,  Geschichte  der  Wiedertdufer ,  p.  212. 


256  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

encourage  their  coming,  for  never  had  they  been 
able  to  obtain  labourers  so  satisfactory  on  their 
estates.  Moravia  was  in  that  day,  as  in  our  own, 
one  of  the  most  fertile  provinces  of  Austria,  and 
it  was  experiencing  a  great  access  of  prosperity  in 
the  growth  of  these  Anabaptist  communities.  The 
testimony  to  the  sober,  law-abiding  character  of  the 
people  composing  them  is  unbroken  by  any  accusa- 
tion of  offence,  even  from  their  bitterest  foes,  save 
the  form  of  religion  that  they  professed  and  prac- 
tised. This,  however,  was  a  continual  ofTence, 
and  the  wonder  is  that  they  were  unmolested  so 
long. 

The  downfall  of  the  communities  began  in  1535. 
By  that  time  Ferdinand  was  suf^ciently  freed  from 
his  various  embarrassments,  chiefly  immediate  fear 
of  the  Turk,  to  permit  him  to  give  serious  attention 
to  matters  never  long  absent  from  his  thoughts — 
first  among  them  the  clearing  of  his  dominions  of 
all  heretics.  A  fierce  persecution  was  begun  in  the 
Tyrol,  that  ended  in  the  martyrdom  of  Jacob  Huter 
at  Innsbruck,  February  24,  1536,  and  the  destruc- 
tion or  scattering  of  his  followers.  A  simultaneous 
attempt  was  made  to  eject  the  Anabaptists   from 


A  ROOM  IN  THE  TOWER  AT  NURNBERQ. 


The  Moravian  Anabaptists        257 

Moravia.     A  royal  edict  issued  by  Ferdinand  in  the 
spring  of  1535  says: 

"  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  in  the  Netherlands  the 
Anabaptists,  committed  to  prison  and  held  in  subjection, 
have  in  the  sequel  begun  to  rebel  against  authority. 
Accordingly,  neither  Lutherans  nor  Zwinglians,  nor,  in 
fine,  any  sect,  will  suffer  among  them  these  heretics;  it 
is,  therefore,  the  will  and  intention  of  his  Majesty  not  to 
suffer  them  any  more  in  Moravia."  ' 

Against  their  own  wishes  probably,  against  their 
own  interests  certainly,  the  Moravian  nobles  yielded 
to  the  royal  command,  and  the  Diet  issued  an  order 
for  the  banishment  of  all  Anabaptists.  There  was 
the  less  disposition  to  resist  the  royal  policy,  doubt- 
less, because  of  the  excesses  that  the  Anabaptists 
were  now  committing  at  Miinster.  True,  these 
people  in  Moravia  had  shown  no  such  lawless  and 
violent  tendencies,  but  were  they  not  also  AnaUkp- 
tists?  And  what  might  they  not  do  if  they  had 
the  opportunity?  The  argument  was,  at  any  rate, 
sufficiently  plausible  to  silence  objections  and  quiet 
tender  consciences,  if  such  there  were  among  the 
persecuting  party. 

'Quoted  by  Heath,  Anabaptists,  p.  75.     Similar  edicts,  of  various 
dates,  are  given  in  the  chronicles.     Beck,  Geschichts-Bucher,  p.  177 
et  al. 
17 


258  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

The  landlords,  who  had  hitherto  given  these 
groups  willing  harbourage,  were  now  obliged  to 
withdraw  their  protection  and  give  notice  to  the 
"households"  to  leave  their  domains  at  once. 
Vainly  did  the  innocent  victims  protest  against  this 
injustice;  the  utmost  concession  they  could  obtain 
was  permission  to  take  with  them  their  movable 
property.  The  decree  was  executed  by  military 
force,  pitilessly,  and  these  unfortunate  people  were 
compelled  to  abandon  the  homes  they  had  built, 
even  the  harvests  they  had  sown,  and  find  refuge 
where  they  might,  in  a  region  where  every  Gov- 
ernment declared  them  outlaws.  The  dense  forests 
of  Moravia,  the  valleys  in  the  mountains  of  Bohe- 
mia, gave  them  temporary  hiding. 

But,  though  scattered,  they  did  not  scatter  in 
panic  or  disorder ;  there  was  a  wise  method  in  their 
flitting.  They  broke  up  into  little  groups,  preserv- 
ing their  organisation,  and  wherever  one  of  these 
groups  settled,  there  was  the  nucleus  of  a  new  com- 
munity. For  a  considerable  time,  therefore,  though 
the  persecution  caused  great  personal  distress  and 
yet  greater  financial  loss  to  the  "households,"  it 
had  little  or  no  effect  in  diminishing  their  numbers. 


The  Moravian  Anabaptists        259 

In  fact,  according  to  their  chronicles,  their  numbers 
actually  increased  under  the  stress  of  this  trial. 
Their  meekness  and  patience  in  bearing  this  great 
injustice  doubtless  had  due  effect  on  the  people,  and 
won  converts  from  those  who  might  otherwise  have 
been  untouched. 

In  spite  of  the  general  spirit  of  meekness  shown 
by  them,  there  was  one  spirited  protest  against  this 
cruel  and  unjust  treatment.  This  took  the  form  of 
a  letter  to  Johann  von  Lipa,  Marshal  of  Moravia, 
who  had  before  this  been  one  of  their  protectors, 
and  had  protested  against  the  royal  decree  so  long 
as  protest  was  of  any  avail;  and  who  now  found 
himself  in  the  hateful  predicament  of  being  com- 
pelled to  enforce  a  decree  of  banishment  against  a 
people  with  whom  at  heart  he  sympathised.  This 
protest,  though  probably  from  the  pen  of  Huter,  is 
written  in  the  name  of  the  entire  brotherhood,  and 
is  the  only  official  apology  of  the  Anabaptists  of 
this  period. 

"  We  brethren,  who  love  God  and  his  word,  the  true 
witnesses  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  banished  from  many 
countries  for  the  name  of  God  and  for  the  cause  of  divine 
truth,  and  have  come  hither  to  the  land  of  Moravia, 
having    assembled    together    and    abode     under    your 


26o  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

jurisdiction,  through  the  favour  and  protection  of  the 
Most  High  God,  to  whom  alone  be  praise  and  honour  and 
laud  for  ever:  we  beg  you  to  know,  honoured  ruler  of 
Moravia,  that  your  officers  have  come  to  us  and  have  de- 
livered your  message  and  command,  as  indeed  is  well 
known  to  you.  Already  we  have  given  a  verbal  answer, 
and  now  we  reply  in  writing:  viz.,  that  we  have  forsaken 
the  world,  an  unholy  life,  and  all  iniquity.  We  believe 
in  Almighty  God,  and  in  his  Son  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  will  protect  us  henceforth  and  forever  in  every 
peril,  and  to  whom  we  have  devoted  our  entire  selves, 
our  life,  and  all  that  we  possess,  to  keep  his  command- 
ments, and  to  forsake  all  unrighteousness  and  sin. 
Therefore  we  are  persecuted  and  despised  by  the  whole 
world,  and  robbed  of  all  our  property,  as  was  done 
aforetime  to  the  holy  prophets,  and  even  to  Christ  him- 
self. By  King  Ferdinand,  the  prince  of  darkness,  that 
cruel  tyrant  and  enemy  of  divine  truth  and  righteous- 
ness, many  of  our  brethren  have  been  slaughtered  and 
put  to  death  without  mercy,  our  property  seized,  our 
fields  and  homes  laid  waste,  ourselves  driven  into  exile, 
and  most  fearfully  persecuted. 

"After  these  things  we  came  into  Moravia,  and  for 
some  time  have  dwelt  here  in  quietness  and  tranquillity, 
under  your  protection.  We  have  injured  no  one,  we 
have  occupied  ourselves  in  heavy  toil,  which  all  men  can 
testify.  Notwithstanding,  with  your  permission,  we  are 
driven  by  force  from  our  possessions  and  our  homes. 
We  are  now  in  the  desert,  in  woods,  and  under  the  open 
canopy  of  heaven;  but  this  we  patiently  endure,  and 
praise  God  that  we  are  counted  worthy  to  suffer  for  his 
name.  Yet  for  your  sakes  we  grieve  that  you  should 
thus  so  wickedly  deal  with  the  children  of  God.     The 


The  Moravian  Anabaptists        261 

righteous  are  called  to  suffer;  but  alas!  woe,  woe  to  all 
those  who  without  reason  persecute  us  for  the  cause  of 
divine  truth,  and  inflict  upon  us  so  many  and  so  great 
injuries,  and  drive  us  from  them  as  dogs  and  brute 
beasts!  Their  destruction,  punishment,  and  condemna- 
tion draw  near,  and  will  come  upon  them  in  terror  and 
dismay,  both  in  this  life  and  in  that  which  is  to  come. 
For  God  will  require  at  their  hands  the  innocent  blood 
which  they  have  shed,  and  will  terribly  vindicate  his 
saints  according  to  the  words  of  the  prophets. 

"And  now  that  you  have  with  violence  bidden  us 
forthwith  to  depart  into  exile,  let  this  be  our  answer: 
We  know  not  any  place  where  we  may  securely  live; 
nor  can  we  longer  dare  remain  here  for  hunger  and  fear. 
If  we  turn  to  the  territories  of  this  or  that  sovereign, 
everywhere  we  find  an  enemy.  If  we  go  forward,  we 
fall  into  the  jaws  of  tyrants  and  robbers,  like  sheep  before 
the  ravening  wolf  and  the  raging  lion,  "With  us  are 
many  widows,  and  babes  in  their  cradle,  whose  parents 
that  most  cruel  tyrant  and  enemy  of  divine  righteous- 
ness, Ferdinand,  gave  to  the  slaughter,  and  whose 
property  he  seized.  These  widows  and  orphans  and  sick 
children,  committed  to  our  charge  by  God,  and  whom 
the  Almighty  has  commanded  us  to  feed,  to  clothe,  to 
cherish,  and  to  supply  all  their  need,  who  cannot  journey 
with  us,  nor,  unless  otherwise  provided  for,  can  long 
live — these  we  dare  not  abandon.  We  may  not  over- 
throw God's  law  to  observe  man's  law,  although  it  cost 
gold,  and  body  and  life.  On  their  account  we  cannot 
depart;  but  rather  than  they  should  suffer  injury  we  will 
endure  any  extremity,  even  to  the  shedding  of  our  blood. 

"  Besides,  here  we  have  houses  and  farms,  the  pro- 
perty that  we  have  gained  by  the  sweat  of  our  brow. 


262  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

which  in  the  sight  of  God  and  men  are  our  just  posses- 
sion: to  sell  them  we  need  time  and  delay.  Of  this 
property  we  have  urgent  need  in  order  to  support  our 
wives,  widows,  orphans  and  children,  of  whom  we  have 
a  great  number,  lest  they  die  of  hunger.  Now  we  lie  in 
the  broad  forest,  and  if  God  will,  without  hurt.  Let  but 
our  own  be  restored  to  us,  and  we  will  live  as  we  have 
hitherto  done,  in  peace  and  tranquillity.  We  desire  to 
molest  no  one;  not  to  prejudice  our  foes,  not  even  King 
Ferdinand.  Our  manner  of  life,  our  customs  and  con- 
versation, are  known  everywhere  to  all.  Rather  than 
wrong  any  man  of  a  single  penny,  we  would  suffer  the 
loss  of  a  hundred  gulden;  and  sooner  than  strike  our 
enemy  with  the  hand,  much  less  with  the  spear,  or 
sword,  or  halbert,  as  the  world  does,  we  would  die  and 
surrender  life.  We  carry  no  weapon,  neither  spear  nor 
gun,  as  is  clear  as  the  open  day;  and  they  who  say  that 
we  have  gone  forth  by  thousands  to  fight,  they  lie  and 
impiously  traduce  us  to  our  rulers.  We  complain  of  this 
injury  before  God  and  man,  and  grieve  greatly  that  the 
number  of  the  virtuous  is  so  small.  We  would  that  all 
the  world  were  as  we  are,  and  that  we  could  bring  and 
convert  all  men  to  the  same  belief;  then  should  all  war 
and  unrighteousness  have  an  end. 

We  answer  further:  that  if  driven  from  this  land  there 
remains  no  refuge  for  us,  unless  God  shall  show  us 
some  special  place  whither  to  flee.  We  cannot  go.  This 
land,  and  all  that  is  therein,  belongs  to  the  God  of 
heaven ;  and  if  we  were  to  give  a  promise  to  depart,  per- 
haps we  should  not  be  able  to  keep  it;  for  we  are  in  the 
hand  of  God,  who  does  with  us  what  he  wills.  By  him 
we  were  brought  hither,  and  peradventure  he  would 
have  us  dwell  here  and  not  elsewhere,  to  try  our  faith 


The  Moravian  Anabaptists        263 

and  our  constancy  by  persecutions  and  adversity.  But 
if  it  should  appear  to  be  his  will  that  we  depart  hence, 
since  we  are  persecuted  and  driven  away,  then,  even 
without  your  command,  not  tardily  but  with  alacrity,  we 
will  go  whither  God  shall  send  us.  Day  and  night  we 
pray  unto  him  that  he  will  guide  our  steps  to  the  place 
where  he  would  have  us  dwell.  We  cannot  and  dare  not 
w:ithstand  his  holy  will;  nor  is  it  possible  for  you,  however 
much  you  may  strive.  Grant  us  but  a  brief  space:  per- 
adventure  our  heavenly  Father  will  make  known  to  us 
his  will,  whether  we  are  to  remain  here,  or  whither  we 
must  go.  If  this  be  done,  you  shall  see  that  no  difficulty, 
however  great  it  may  be,  shall  deter  us  from  the  path. 

"  Woe,  woe,  unto  you,  O  ye  Moravian  rulers,  who  have 
sworn  to  that  cruel  tyrant  and  enemy  of  God's  truth, 
Ferdinand,  to  drive  away  his  pious  and  faithful  servants! 
Woe,  we  say  to  you!  who  fear  more  that  frail  and  mortal 
man  than  the  living,  omnipotent  and  eternal  God,  and 
chase  from  you,  suddenly  and  inhumanely,  the  children 
of  God,  the  afflicted  widow,  the  desolate  orphan,  and 
scatter  them  abroad.  Not  with  impunity  will  you  do 
this;  your  oaths  will  not  excuse  you,  or  afford  you  any 
subterfuge.  The  same  punishment  and  torments  that 
Pilate  endured  will  overtake  you:  who,  unwilling  to 
crucify  the  Lord,  yet  from  fear  of  Caesar  adjudged  him 
to  death.  God,  by  the  mouth  of  the  prophet,  proclaims 
that  he  will  fearfully  and  terribly  avenge  the  shedding  of 
innocent  blood,  and  will  not  pass  by  such  as  fear  not  to 
pollute  and  contaminate  their  hands  therewith.  There- 
fore great  slaughter,  much  misery  and  anguish,  sorrow, 
and  adversity,  yea,  everlasting  groaning,  pain  and  tor- 
ment, are  daily  appointed  you.  The  Most  High  will 
lift  his  hand  against  you,  now  and  eternally.     This  we 


264  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

announce  to  you  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
for  verily  it  will  not  tarry,  and  shortly  you  shall  see  that 
we  have  told  you  nothing  but  the  truth  of  God,  in  the 
name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  are  witnesses  against 
you,  and  against  all  who  set  at  nought  his  command- 
ments. We  beseech  you  to  forsake  iniquity,  and  to  turn 
to  the  living  God  with  weeping  and  lamentation,  that 
you  may  escape  all  these  woes, 

"We  earnestly  entreat  you,  submissively  and  with 
prayers,  that  you  take  in  good  part  all  these  our  words. 
For  we  testify  and  speak  what  we  know,  and  have 
learned  to  be  true  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  from  that  true 
Christian  affection  which  we  follow  after  before  God  and 
men.     Farewell."  ' 

The  fierceness  of  this  persecution  soon  declined, 
since  there  was  no  adequate  local  sentiment  to  sus- 
tain it,  but  it  was  again  renewed  in  1547,  and  from 
this  time  to  Ferdinand's  death,  in  1564,  was  a 
period  of  suffering  known  in  the  Anabaptist  litera- 
ture as  "the  time  of  the  great  persecution."  The 
reign  of  Maximilian  H.  (i 564-1 576)  and  the  first 
half  of  his  successor's  reign  (Rudolf  IL,  1 576-1612) 
was  a  time  of  comparative  freedom  from  molesta- 
tion, and  is  called  in  the  chronicles  "the  good  time 

'  This  document  is  given  by  Ott,  Annates  Anabaptistici,  pp.  75- 
78,  and  in  several  other  collections  of  Anabaptist  documents.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  of  its  genuineness.  The  above  translation,  with 
some  changes,  is  from  the  Martyrology  of  the  Hansard  KnoUys  So- 
ciety, i.,  149-153. 


The  Moravian  Anabaptists        265 

of  the  church."  Once  more  their  communities 
flourished,  under  the  protection  of  the  Moravian 
nobles,  who  successfully  withstood  the  occasional 
demands  of  Austria's  rulers  that  the  Anabaptists 
should  be  driven  out  of  the  land. 

In  the  meantime  Nikolsburg  had  continued  to  be, 
in  some  sort,  the  headquarters  of  the  Anabaptists. 
The  House  of  Lichtenstein  had  not  ceased  to  grant 
them  countenance  and  protection,  so  far  as  possible, 
nor  is  there  any  hint  that  Lord  Leonhardt  ever 
withdrew  from  the  body.  There  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  any  radical  change  in  the  attitude  of  the 
House  towards  the  brethren  during  the  lifetime  of 
his  son,  Christopher,  though  it  is  not  known  that 
the  latter  was  a  member  of  the  body.  The  Lich- 
tensteins,  and  for  the  most  part  the  other  Moravian 
nobles,  pretty  uniformly  returned  a  no7t  possni/nts  to 
all  their  monarch's  edicts  of  persecution ;  and,  if 
they  did  not  openly  protest,  their  capacity  for  pass- 
ive resistance  was  practically  unlimited.  Unless 
the  Austrian  Government  was  prepared  to  send 
soldiers  into  Moravia,  little  could  be  done  towards 
the  dispersal  of  the  Anabaptists. 

But  with  the  death  of  Christopher  von  Lichten- 


266  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

stein,  in  1572,  a  marked  change  came  over  Nikols- 
burg.  He  left  no  heir,"  and  the  estates,  therefore, 
reverted  to  the  Crown;  and  in  1576  the  Emperor 
sold  them  to  Adam  von  Dietrichstein,  whose  de- 
scendants, subsequently  raised  to  princely  rank, 
still  hold  them.  The  new  lord  of  Nikolsburg  be- 
longed to  a  distinguished  Romanist  family,  one  of 
whom  was  later  Bishop  of  Olmiitz  and  a  Cardinal. 
It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  a  man  of  such  ante- 
cedents, known  himself  to  be  an  ardent  Catholic, 
should  tolerate  in  his  domains  those  who  were  so 
much  despised  and  contemned  by  the  Church  as 


'  A  younger  branch  of  the  family  remained  Protestant  through  the 
sixteenth  century,  in  spite  of  the  severe  persecutions  to  which  all 
were  subject  who  resisted  the  Roman  Church.  About  1604,  Count 
Charles  Lichtenstein  became  a  convert  to  the  Catholic  faith,  and 
was  rewarded  by  being  raised  to  the  rank  of  Prince  in  1608,  and  in 
162 1  was  made  Regent  of  Bohemia.  The  family  has  ever  since  re- 
mained one  of  the  most  distinguished  and  powerful  in  Austria,  and 
possesses  large  estates  in  various  parts  of  the  Empire.  Only  a  few 
miles  from  Nikolsburg  are  the  castles  of  Feldsburg  and  Eisgrub, 
.still  owned  by  Prince  Liechtenstein  (to  use  the  modern  orthography), 
the  latter  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  magnificent  park  of  over  a  hun- 
dred square  miles.  The  family  has  in  recent  years  risen  to  royal 
rank,  for  since  1866  Liechtenstein  has  been  an  independent  princi- 
pality— one  of  the  smallest  kingdoms  in  Europe,  with  an  area  of 
only  sixty-five  square  miles  and  a  population  not  exceeding  ten 
thousand  souls,  situated  between  the  Tyrol  and  Switzerland.  But  a 
king  is  a  king,  even  if  his  kingdom  is  no  larger  than  a  pocket-hand- 
kerchief ! 


The  Moravian  Anabaptists        267 

the  Anabaptists.  Lord  Adam  proceeded  to  enforce 
his  faith  with  energy  and  to  root  out  of  the  town 
and  the  surrounding  country  all  who  were  suspected 
of  heresy. 

There  were  at  this  time  in  Nikolsburg  and  adja- 
cent towns  3720  persons  known  or  reputed  to  be 
Anabaptists.  A  historian  of  the  period  records 
the  success  of  Dietrichstein's  efforts  to  purify  the 
region.  Nikolsburg  had  been  the  refuge  of  all  sorts 
of  pernicious  heretics,  who  had  so  flourished  as  to 
give  the  town  a  bad  name  everywhere.  It  had 
passed  into  a  proverb:  "He  is  from  Nikolsburg, 
therefore  he  is  an  Anabaptist."  Dietrichstein 
brought  to  pass  in  a  few  years  so  great  a  change 
that  it  might  be  said  with  equal  truth:  "He  is  from 
Nikolsburg,  therefore  he  is  a  Roman  Catholic  and 
Jesuit  Christian."  * 

This  is,  however,  the  usual  and  perhaps  pardon- 
able exaggeration  of  the  eulogist.  The  new  lord, 
like  the  proverbial  new  broom,  swept  clean — as  clean 
as  he  could — but  he  did  not  accomplish  so  com- 
plete an  alteration  in  the  character  of   Nikolsburg 


'  Christopher  Erhard,  in  Sampt  angetruckten  Gesprdch,  Ingolstadt, 
1586,  p.  31.     Quoted  by  Loserth,  Communismus,  p.  55. 


268  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

as  the  partial  historian  represents.  His  succes- 
sors were  less  given  to  the  policy  of  "Thorough," 
and  the  Anabaptist  chronicles  contain  proofs  in 
plenty  that  these  repressive  measures  were  only 
partially  effective.  No  longer  could  the  brethren 
be  said  to  flourish  in  Moravia,  but  they  still  en- 
dured. The  seventeenth  century,  however,  was  to 
witness  their  all  but  complete  destruction.  The 
Jesuits  had  obtained  the  ear  of  the  Austrian  Court, 
and  had  established  their  emissaries  in  important 
ecclesiastical  posts  throughout  Moravia.  The  mo- 
tive power  for  steady  persecution  was  thus  supplied  ; 
against  their  persistent  malignity  and  sleepless 
vigilance  no  heretics  might  long  stand. 

In  1623  a  new  royal  decree  for  the  persecution  of 
Anabaptists  was  issued  through  Cardinal  Dietrich- 
stein,  and  from  this  time  forward  there  was  little 
intermission  of  severity.  Prince  Liechtenstein,  now 
a  Roman  Catholic  and  Marshal  of  Moravia,  was 
active  in  the  work,  which  was  part  of  the  reaction- 
ary policy  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  wherever  the 
Austrian  and  Imperial  power  extended.  In  this 
terrific  persecution  many  thousands  perished — there 
is  no  adequate  and  trustworthy  record  of  the  num- 


The  Moravian  Anabaptists        269 

ber.  A  list  in  one  of  the  chronicles,  drawn  up 
about  1 58 1,  gives  the  number  of  martyrs  among  the 
brethren  up  to  that  time  as  2169,  but  this  is  only 
a  small  fraction  of  the  number  who  lost  their  lives 
for  the  truth's  sake  before  the  persecution  was  ended. 
Another  chronicle  thus  describes  their  sufferings : 

"  Some  were  torn  to  pieces  on  the  rack,  some  were 
burned  to  ashes  and  powder,  some  were  roasted  on 
pillars,  some  were  torn  with  red-hot  tongs,  some  were 
shut  up  in  houses  and  burned  in  masses,  some  were 
hanged  on  trees,  some  were  executed  with  the  sword, 
some  were  plunged  in  the  water,  many  had  gags  put  into 
their  mouths  so  that  they  could  not  speak  and  were  thus 
led  away  to  death.  Like  sheep  and  lambs,  crowds  of 
them  were  led  away  to  be  slaughtered  and  butchered. 
Others  were  starved  or  allowed  to  rot  in  noisome  prisons. 
Many  had  holes  burned  through  their  backs  and  were 
left  in  this  condition.  Like  owls  and  bitterns  they  dared 
not  go  abroad  by  day,  but  lived  and  crouched  in  rocks 
and  caverns,  in  wild  forests,  in  caves  and  pits.  Many 
were  hunted  down  with  hounds  and  catchpoles." 

By  means  of  such  measures,  the  number  of  Ana- 
baptists in  Moravia  was  sensibly  decreased  ;  most  of 
the  brotherhood  who  survived  these  fiery  trials 
found  a  home  elsewhere.  The  depopulation  of  the 
country,  owing  mainly  to  these  persecutions,  was 
so  frightful  that  the  Diet  passed  a  special  statute 


270  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

giving  to  every  man  in  Moravia  the  extraordinary 
privilege  of  taking  two  wives,  that  the  country 
might  be  repeopled!'  Nevertheless,  even  so  a 
remnant  of  the  brethren  survived  and  continued  to 
live  in  the  province,  in  ever-diminishing  numbers, 
for  at  least  a  century  longer.  Some  found  refuge  in 
Bohemia  and  Hungary,  where  a  few  colonies  are 
said  to  survive  until  this  day.  One  group  made 
their  way  into  southern  Russia,  where  they  re- 
mained until  1874,  when  they  emigrated  in  a  body 
to  South  Dakota,  and  there,  in  several  communities, 
they  seem  to  be  renewing  their  former  prosperity. 
Even  in  Moravia  itself  it  is  doubtful  when  they  be- 
came entirely  extinct,  for  traces  of  them  were  found 
by  Dr.  Beck  as  late  as  the  year  181 5 ;  but  no  com- 
munity is  known  to  exist  there  now." 

In  the  sequel,  therefore,  we  see  the  almost  com- 
plete destruction  of  the  fabric  that  Hubmaier  and 
his  associates  reared  with  so  great  effort  and  at  so 
costly    sacrifice.     The    traces    of    them    and    their 

^Encyclopedia  Brilatittica,  art.  "  Moravia,"  historical  sketch. 

'It  has  not  been  thout^ht  necessary  to  give  authorities  for  most  of 
the  several  statements  of  this  chapter.  The  materials  are  derived, 
about  equally,  from  Loserth's  continuation  of  his  biography  of  Hiib- 
maier, Der  Communismus  dcr  Mdhrischcn  Wicdcrtdufcr,  Wien, 
1894,  and  Beck's  Geschichts-Biicher, 


The  Moravian  Anabaptists       271 

labours  disappeared  as  utterly  as  the  wake  of  a  ves- 
sel in  the  ocean.  Shall  we,  therefore,  declare  that 
they  lived  and  laboured  in  vain?  Did  such  as  Hiib- 
maier  give  their  lives  for  naught  ?  Not  so.  Hiib- 
maier's  contribution  to  the  gradual  progress  of  the 
truth,  to  the  slow  emancipation  of  man,  to  the  final 
triumph  of  religious  and  civil  liberty,  was  not  only 
considerable  but  lasting.  His  name,  his  example, 
and  his  teachings  were  long  cherished  by  the 
brotherhood ;  and  when  his  name  and  example  had 
faded  from  recollection,  his  teachings  lived  on.  In 
an  age  of  credulity  and  superstition  he  stood  for 
the  gospel  proclaimed  by  the  Apostles.  Among 
people  groaning  under  the  exactions  of  an  effete 
feudalism  and  oppressed  by  despotic  and  selfish 
princes,  he  advocated  justice  and  mercy  on  the  part 
of  rulers,  sobriety  and  obedience  on  the  part  of 
subjects.  At  a  time  when  intolerance  and  persecu- 
tion were  universal,  his  was  the  voice  of  one  crying 
in  the  wilderness  for  restoration  of  the  God-given 
right  of  every  man  to  study  the  Scriptures  for  him- 
self, and  to  follow  whithersoever  they  might  lead. 

"TRUTH   IS  immortal" 


^    ^^^    -S?*X   .^^   ^|<^^,^^_  .^^  -.^x-S^^^r  „  (-^^.t?W^    -V>.i^ 

<«_/  ■     -I       A      .^  I         S-  -'a  ■ 


;^^^ 


^ijVJV  ''(•'"■V    'SH'^T^^ 


^ 


FACSIMILE  OF  HUEMAIER'S  FIRST  APPEAL  TO  THE  COUNCIL  OF  SCHAFFHAUSEN. 

ORIGINAL  IN  THE  SCHAFFHAUSEN  ARCHIVES. 


APPENDIX 

ON  THE  SWORD 

A  Christian  exposition  of    the   Scriptures,  earnestly 

announced   by   certain   brothers   as  against    magistracy 

(that  is,  that  Christians  should  not  sit  in  judgment,  nor 

bear  the  sword). 

t 


273 


To  the  noble  and  Christian  Lords,  Arekleb  of  Boz- 
kowitz  and  Tzernehor  of  Trebitz,  Chancellor  of 
the  Margravate  of  Moravia,  my  gracious  Lords, 
Grace  and  peace  in  God. 
Noble,  gracious  Lord,  your  Grace  well  knows  that  all 
those  who  in  these  last  perilous  times  hold  dear  and 
preach  the  holy  gospel,  must  not  only  be  deprived  of 
goods,  but  be  tortured  in  body,  yea,  must  even  be  wounded 
in  honour  {which  to  men  is  the  most  precious  jewel  on 
earth)  and  be  oppressed  by  the  godless.  Even  the 
weapons  of  the  hellish  Satan  are  here,  through  which 
he  attempts  without  cessation  to  oppress,  blot  out  and 
burden  evangelical  teaching  and  truth.  Yet  he  will 
not  succeed,  his  head  must  be  bruised.  Especially 
also  must  it  be  charged  now  by  such  servants  of  the 
devil,  that  all  Christian  preachers  are  rioters,  seducers, 
and  heretics,  since  they  repudiate  magistracy  and 
teach  disloyal  doctrines.  And  yet  this  is  not  a  cause 
for  wonder.  The  same  thing  also  happened  to  Christ, 
although  he  openly  preached,  ''Render  to  Ccesar  the 
things  that  are  Ccesar's"  (when  he  paid  the  tribute  for 
himself  and  for  Peter).  Notwithstanding,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  suffer  back-breaking  pains  by  liars,  since  he 
was  reported  a  rioter  and  accused  as  a  disturber  of  the 
people,  whom  he  had  forbidden  to  give  the  tribute- 
money  to  the  Emperor.  When  the  like  now  happens 
to  us,  what  difference  does  it  make?     The  servant  is 

275 


276  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

not  more  than  his  lord,  and  the  disciple  is  not  more 
than  his  master.  If  they  have  persecuted  the  master 
of  the  house,  much  more  will  tliey  do  it  to  us.  But 
that  your  Grace  may  learn  and  know,  what  from  tlie 
beginning  I  have  always  and  everywhere  held  con- 
cerning the  magistracy,  how  I  also  openly  preached  in 
the  pulpit  at  Waldshut  and  elsewhere,^  as  well  as  wrote 
and  frequently  taught  (ivithout  any  boast  be  it  said)  and 
how  much  I  suffered  for  it  from  my  opponents,  who 
falsely  charged  many  other  things  against  me; — /  liave 
composed  a  small  book  in  which  your  Grace  may  learn 
thoroughly  my  opinion,  and  elucidated  in  general  all 
writings  which  my  antagonists  have  hitlierto  with  much 
zeal  charged  to  forbid  magistracy  among  Christians. 
Such  a  tract  your  Grace  will  receive  graciously  from  me, 
and  briefly  note  my  sentiments  concerning  Christian 
magistracy  in  the  contents  of  the  writings.  Since  I 
always,  in  this  and  my  other  teachings  and  deeds,  desire 
justice  and  right,  if  I  err  I  will  gladly  permit  myself  to 
be  banished  and  punished,  as  is  just.  But,  according 
to  the  Scripture,  let  them  bear  witness  against  the  evil; 
but  if  I  err  not,  wherefore  do  they  smite  me,  wherefore 
do  they  brand  me?  For  though  my  enemies  (of  whom 
I  have  as  many  as  the  old  scaly  serpent)  are  never 
willing  to  let  me  be  justly  judged,  I  am  not  so.  If  my 
God  and  Lord  must  suffer  that  they  do  offence  and  vio- 
lence to  his  ivord,  I  must  also  suffer,  yet  {God  be 
praised)  not  as  an  evil-doer.     Let  every  one  judge  as  lie 


'  I  have  more  earnestly  held  with  the  Scripture  concerning  the 
pious  magistracy,  than  any  preacher  within  twenty  miles.  But  I 
have  also  charged  tyrants  with  their  crime,  whence  arises  their  envy, 
hatred  and  enmity. — Marginal  note  by  Hlibmaier. 


On  the  Sword  277 

desires  to  he  judged  by  the  Lord.  Well  !  since  it  is  the 
will  of  God,  on  account  of  our  sins,  therefore  I  must 
and  will,  even  against  my  will,  fashion  my  will.  Here- 
with, your  Grace  and  my  especially  gracious  Lord,  I 
give  myself  submissively  in  all  service  for  all  time. 
Your  Grace,  farewell  in  Christ  Jesus. 
Given  at  Nicolspurg  on  the  24th  day  of  June,  152'/. 
Your  Grace's  obedient 

Balthasar  Huebmor  of  Fridberg. 


ON    THE    SWORD 


THE   FIRST    PASSAGE 


Christ  says  to  Pilate,  "My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world;  if  it 
were  of  this  world  my  servants  would  doubtless  fight  for  me,  that  I 
should  not  be  delivered  to  the  Jews." — John  xviii.,  36. 

From  this  Scripture  many  brothers  say,  "A  Christian 
may  not  bear  the  sword,  since  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is 
not  of  this  world."  Answer  :  If  these  people  would  use 
their  eyes  aright,  they  would  say  a  very  different  thing, 
namely,  that  our  kingdom  should  not  be  of  this  world. 
But  with  sorrow  we  lament  before  God  that  it  is  of  this 
world,  as  we  testify  when  we  offer  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
"  Father,  thy  kingdom  come."  For  we  are  in  the  king- 
dom of  the  world,  which  is  a  kingdom  of  sin,  death  and 
hell.  But  Father,  help  thou  us  out  of  this  kingdom;  we 
stick  in  it  clear  over  ears,  and  shall  not  be  freed  from 
it  till  the  end;  it  clings  to  us  even  in  death.  Lord,  for- 
give us  this  evil,  and  help  us  home  into  thy  kingdom! 
Yet  such  brothers  must  see  and  confess  the  truth,  that 
our  kingdom  is  of  this  world,  which  should  cause  us 
heartfelt  sorrow.  But  Christ  alone  could  say  with  truth, 
"  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,"  since  he  was  con- 
ceived and  born  without  sin,  a  lamb  without  blemish,  in 
whom  is  no  deceit,  but  without  sin  and  any  spot.  He 
alone  with  truth  might  also   say,   "  The  prince  of  this 

279 


28o  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

world  has  come,  and  has  found  nothing  in  me,"  which 
we  here  on  earth  can  nevermore  speak  with  truth.  For 
as  often  as  the  prince,  the  devil,  comes  he  finds  in  us 
wicked  lust,  wicked  desire,  wicked  longing.  Whence 
also  St.  Paul,  now  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  yet  calls 
himself  a  sinner  [Rom.  vii.,  15-25].  Therefore  all  pious 
and  godly  Christians  must  confess  themselves  unholy 
even  till  death,  whatever  we  may  do  of  ourselves. 

THE   SECOND    PASSAGE 

Jesus  says  to  Peter :  "  Put  up  thy  sword  in  its  place,  for  he  who 
taketh  the  sword  shall  perish  by  the  sword.  Or  thinkest  thou  that  I 
could  not  pray  to  my  Father,  and  he  would  send  me  more  than 
twelve  legions  of  angels  ?  But  how  would  the  Scripture  be  fulfilled, 
that  it  must  be  thus?" — Matt,  xxvi.,  53,  54. 

Mark  here  well,  pious  Christian,  the  word  of  Christ, 
so  will  you  have  an  answer  to  the  accusation  of  the 
brothers.  First  Christ  says,  "  Put  your  sword  into  its 
place,"  he  does  not  forbid  you  to  bear  it.  You  are  not 
in  authority;  it  is  not  your  appointed  place,  nor  are  you 
yet  called  or  elected  thereto.  "  For  who  takes  the  sword 
shall  perish  with  the  sword."  The  sword  means  those 
who  act  without  election,  disorderly,  and  of  their  own 
authority.  But  no  one  shall  take  the  sword  himself,  ex- 
cept one  who  has  been  elected  and  appointed  thereto;  for 
so  he  does  not  take  it  of  himself,  but  it  has  been  brought 
to  him  and  given  him.  Now  he  may  say,  "  I  have  not 
taken  the  sword.  I  would  rather  go  unemployed,  since 
I  am  myself  not  very  stern.  But  since  I  am  chosen 
thereto,  I  pray  God  that  he  will  give  me  grace  and  wis- 
dom that  I  may  bear  it  and  rule  according  to  his  word 
and  will."  So  Solomon  prayed  and  was  given  great 
wisdom  by  God  to  bear  the  sword  well.     Besides,  do 


On  the  Sword  281 

you  hear  this:  Christ  said  to  Peter,  "  Put  up  thy  sword 
in  its  sheath."  He  did  not  say,  Put  it  away,  throw  it 
from  thee.  For  Christ  blames  him  because  he  seeks  it 
first,  and  not  because  he  has  it  at  his  side — otherwise  he 
would  have  blamed  him  long  before,  if  that  were  wrong. 

It  follows  further:  "  Who  takes  the  sword  shall  perish 
by  the  sword,"  that  is,  he  is  brought  under  the  judgment 
of  the  sword.  Though  he  may  not  wish  it,  he  will  always 
be  judged  by  the  sword  for  his  fault.  Do  you  mark 
here  how  Christ  sanctions  the  sword,  that  they  shall  pun- 
ish with  it,  and  suppress  self-constituted  authority  and 
wickedness?  And  that  they  shall  do  who  are  elected  for 
the  purpose,  whoever  they  are.  Hence  it  is  evident  that 
if  men  are  pious,  good  and  orderly,  they  will  bear  the 
sword  for  the  protection  of  the  innocent,  according  to 
the  will  of  God,  and  for  a  terror  to  evil-doers,  according 
as  God  has  appointed  and  ordained. 

In  the  third  place,  Christ  said  to  his  disciples,  when 
they  asked  him  wherefore  he  was  going  to  Jerusalem 
when  the  Jews  had  wished  before  to  stone  him:  "Are 
there  not  twelve  hours  in  the  day?  "  As  if  he  had  said, 
They  will  not  kill  me  until  the  twelfth  hour  comes,  that 
is,  the  one  ordained  of  God  for  my  death,  which  Christ 
also  calls  the  hour  of  darkness.  But  when  the  same 
twelfth  hour  was  come,  Christ  said  to  his  disciples,  near 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  "  Sleep  on  and  take  your  rest. 
The  hour  is  here  that  I  should  be  given  to  death,  in 
order  that  the  Scripture  might  be  fulfilled."  Mark, 
Peter  hears  that  the  appointed  and  fore-ordained  hour 
of  God  had  come,  yet  he  would  oppose,  and  draws  the 
sword  of  his  own  authority.  That  was  the  greatest 
[error].  Therefore  Christ  speaks:  There  is  no  use  in 
protecting  and  guarding  me  further.     The  hour  foreseen 


282  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

by  God  is  here,  and  even  if  there  were  twelve  legions  of 
angels  here  they  might  not  help  me  against  the  will  of  my 
Heavenly  Father.  Therefore  put  up  [thy  sword] ;  it  is 
useless.  I  have  already  said  to  you,  the  hour  is  here; 
the  Scripture  shall  and  must  be  fulfilled. 

From  that  every  Christian  learns  that  one  should  not 
cease  to  protect  and  guard  all  pious  and  innocent  men, 
so  long  as  he  does  not  certainly  know  that  even  now  the 
hour  of  their  death  is  here.  But  when  the  hour  comes, 
whether  you  know  it  or  not,  you  can  no  longer  protect 
and  guard  them.  Therefore  the  magistrate  is  bound  by 
his  soul's  salvation  to  protect  and  guard  all  innocent  and 
peaceful  men,  until  a  certain  voice  of  God  comes  and  is 
heard  to  say,  Now  shalt  thou  no  longer  protect  this  man 
— as  Abraham  also  heard  a  voice  that  he  should  slay  his 
son,  contrary  to  the  commandment,  Thou  shalt  not  kill. 
Therefore  the  magistrate  is  also  bound  to  rescue  and  re- 
lease all  oppressed  and  persecuted  men,  widows,  orphans, 
whether  known  or  strangers,  without  any  respect  of  per- 
sons, according  to  the  will  and  most  earnest  command  of 
God  (Is.  i.,  17;  Jer.  xxi.,  12;  xxii.,  3;  Rom.  xiii.,  i; 
and  many  other  passages)  until  they  are  called  by  God 
to  something  else,  which  they  will  not  need  to  wait  for 
long.  Therefore  God  has  hung  the  sword  at  their  side 
and  given  it  to  his  disciples. 

THE    THIRD    PASSAGE 

*'  Lord,  wilt  thou  that  we  command  that  fire  from  heaven  fall  and 
consume  them,  as  Elijah  did.  Hut  Jesus  turned  to  them  and  rebuked 
them,  and  said.  Ye  know  not  what  spirit  ye  are  of.  The  Son  of 
man  is  come  not  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save  them." — Luke 
ix.,  54,  55- 

Here  my  brothers  make  a  great  outcry,  as  if  the  devil 
were  there,  and   say,   "  Now  you   see,    Balthasar,    that 


On  the  Sword  283 

Christ  did  not  wish  to  punish  with  fire.  And  so  we 
ought  not  to  do  it,  nor  should  we  use  fire,  water,  sword 
or  gallows."  Answer:  Look  further,  dear  brothers, 
where  Christ  comes  to  the  end,  [and  see]  what  was  the 
authority  and  command  given  him  by  God.  Consider 
also  therewith  what  is  the  power  of  superiors.  Do  that 
and  you  shall  already  have  an  answer.  Christ  is  come, 
as  he  himself  says,  not  to  judge  men,  condemn  them 
or  punish  them  with  fire,  water  or  the  sword.  He  did  not 
become  man  for  that.  But  his  command  and  authority 
was  to  make  men  hold  with  the  word ;  that  power  he  had 
received  when  he  became  man.  So  he  says  himself 
(Luke  xii.,  14),  "Who  has  made  me  a  judge  between 
you  and  your  brother?"  As  if  he  had  said,  You  may 
find  another  judge.  I  am  not  here  for  that  purpose,  that 
I  should  seize  another  power  and  command  over  you. 
On  the  contrary,  the  power  and  authority  of  the  magis- 
trate is  given  by  God,  that  he  should  protect  and  guard 
the  pious,  and  punish  the  wicked  and  destroy  them; 
therefore  has  he  hung  the  sword  at  their  side,  and  since 
it  is  at  their  side  they  must  use  it.  Now  God  always 
punishes  the  wicked,  perhaps  with  hail,  rain  or  sickness, 
and  also  through  certain  men  who  have  been  appointed 
and  chosen  thereto.  Wherefore  Paul  calls  the  magistrate 
a  "  minister  "  of  God.  For  what  God  might  do  of  him- 
self he  often  wills  to  do  through  his  creatures,  as  through 
his  instrument. 

Yes,  and  although  the  devil,  Nebuchadnezzar  and 
many  other  wicked  men  are  also  called  in  Scripture 
servants  of  God,  still  it  is  far  otherwise  with  an  orderly 
government,  when  according  to  the  command  of  God  it 
punishes  the  wicked  for  the  good  of  the  pious  and  inno- 
cent.    But  the  devil  and   his  crew  do  nothing  for  the 


284  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

good  or  peace  of  men,  but  everything  to  their  injury  and 
hurt,  in  an  envious  and  vindictive  sjjirit.  But  the  gov- 
ernment has  a  special  sympathy  with  all  those  who  have 
transgressed;  it  wishes  from  the  heart  that  it  liad  not 
happened;  while  the  devil  and  his  followers  wish  that  all 
men  were  unfortunate.  Do  you  see,  then,  brothers,  how 
far  separated  from  one  another  are  these  two  kinds  of 
servants,  the  devil  and  orderly  government?  How  also 
Christ  wished  to  exercise  his  power  on  earth?  Even  so 
ought  we  to  exercise  our  power  and  calling,  whether  in 
government  or  in  obedience,  for  we  must  give  an  account 
for  it  to  God  at  the  last  day. 

THE    FOURTH    PASSAGE 

"  One  of  the  people  spoke  to  the  Lord,  Master,  say  to  my  brother 
that  he  divide  the  inheritance  with  me.  But  he  said  to  him,  Man, 
who  appointed  me  a  judge  or  divider  over  you?" — Luke  xii.,  13,  14. 

Here  these  brothers  of  mine  cry  out  to  Heaven,  but 
too  noisily,  and  say,  "  Hearest  thou,  Fridberger?  Christ 
will  not  be  a  judge  or  divider.  Judgment  and  court  are 
forbidden  by  Christ;  therefore  the  upright  Christian 
should  not  be  a  judge,  nor  sit  in  the  court  nor  bear  the 
sword,  for  Christ  did  not  wish  to  be  a  judge  or  divider 
between  the  two  brothers."  Ans7i>cr :  Hold  up  on  your 
crying,  dear  brothers,  you  do  not  know  the  Scripture, 
therefore  you  are  wrong  and  do  not  know  what  you  are 
crying.  Christ  says,  Man,  who  has  appointed  me  a  judge 
or  divider  over  you?  That  is  not  my  office;  it  belongs 
to  another.  Mark  that:  Christ  does  not  condemn  the 
office  of  judge,  since  it  is  not  to  be  condemned,  as  will 
shortly  follow.  But  he  shows  this,  that  no  one  should 
undertake  to  be  a  judge  wlio  has  not  been  ajipointed  and 


On  the  Sword  285 

chosen  thereto.  Thence  comes  the  election  of  burgo- 
masters, mayors,  judges,  all  of  whom  Christ  permits  to 
remain,  if  with  God  and  a  good  conscience  they  rule  well 
over  temporal  and  corporeal  affairs.  But  he  was  not 
willing  himself  to  assume  it;  he  did  not  become  man  for 
that  purpose,  and  he  was  not  appointed  thereto.  In  like 
manner  also,  no  one  should  use  the  sword,  until  he  is 
regularly  elected  for  that  purpose,  or  called  in  some  other 
way  by  God,  as  Moses,  between  the  Israelites  and 
Egyptians  [Ex.  iii.,  lo],  Abraham  for  the  deliverance  of 
his  brother  Lot  [Gen.  xiv.,  14-17],  and  Phinehas  against 
the  unclean  [Num.  xxv.,  7-9]. 

THE    FIFTH    PASSAGE 

"  If  any  man  wisheth  to  bring  thee  before  the  court,  and  take  thy 
coat  from  thee,  let  him  have  thy  cloak  also." — Matt,  v.,  40. 

THE    SIXTH    PASSAGE 

"  It  is  already  a  defect  among  you  that  you  have  law-suits  with 
each  other.  Wherefore  do  you  not  much  rather  let  yourselves  be 
wronged  ?  Wherefore  do  you  not  much  rather  suffer  wrong  and  be 
defrauded  ?  But  you  do  injustice  and  defraud,  and  such  things  to 
your  brothers." — i  Cor.  vi.,  7,  8. 

These  two  passages  are  announced  by  the  brothers  in 
so  lofty  and  anxious  a  way,  as  if  they  believed  they  ought 
to  offer  themselves  to  the  fire — a  Christian  may  not  be  a 
judge.  Well,  we  will  search  the  Scriptures,  thus  we  shall 
find  a  good  answer.  Suits,  quarrels,  complaints  and 
wranglings  before  council  or  court,  if  one  seeks  them 
himself,  are  not  right,  as  the  aforesaid  two  passages  very 
clearly  show.  But  that,  when  the  parties  wish  to  go  to 
law,  a  Christian  may  not  without  sin  be  a  judge  or  decide 
justly  between  them,  is  not  declared  in  the  sixth  chapter 


286  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

of  Paul's  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians.  For  Paul  writes: 
"How  does  any  among  you,  if  he  has  a  complaint  against 
another,  go  to  law  before  the  unrighteous,  and  not  before 
the  saints?  (that  is,  before  Christians).  Do  ye  not  know 
that  the  saints  will  judge  the  world?  If  then  the  world 
will  be  judged  by  you,  are  ye  not  good  enough  to  judge 
trifles?  Know  ye  not  that  ye  will  judge  the  angels,  how 
much  more  temporal  affairs?  If  now  ye  have  law-suits 
over  affairs,  name  the  most  despised  in  the  cluirch  and 
set  the  same  to  judge.  To  your  shame  I  say  that.  Is 
it  so  indeed  that  there  is  no  wise  man  among  you,  or  not 
a  single  one  who  can  judge  between  brother  and  brother, 
but  a  brother  permits  himself  to  go  to  law  with  another, 
even  before  the  unbelievers?  " 

Hear  Paul  now,  dear  brothers,  and  see.  If  Christians 
wish  to  go  to  law  over  affairs,  that  is,  over  temporal  goods, 
which  is  quite  wrong,  they  should  yet  seek  to  be  judged 
by  a  Christian  and  not  by  an  unbeliever.  Mark  here, 
brothers,  you  have  skipped  over  that.  If  Christians  wish 
to  go  to  law  and  not  to  be  at  peace  with  each  other,  they 
sin  yet  more,  yea,  they  doubly  sin,  if  they  take  their  case 
before  an  unbelieving  judge  and  not  before  a  Christian. 
Therefore  Paul  mocks  the  Corinthians  and  says,  "  If  ye 
will  go  to  law,  ye  should  choose  the  most  despised  among 
you  to  judge."  He  says  that  to  them  for  their  shame, 
since  it  is  reasonable  that  they  should  be  ashamed  if  they 
had  not  among  them  any  pious  and  wise  Christians,  who 
might  decide  justly  between  them,  but  must  run  for  an 
unbelieving  judge. 

Now  a  blind  man  can  see,  that  a  Christian  may  pro- 
perly and  with  a  good  conscience  sit  in  court  and  coun- 
cil, and  judge  and  decide  about  temporal  cases;  although 
the  wranglers  and  disputants  sin,  yet  they  sin  more  if 


On  the  Sword  287 

they  take  their  cases  before  the  unbelieving  judge.  If  a 
Christian  therefore  may  and  should  in  the  power  of  the 
divine  word,  be  a  judge  with  the  mouth,  he  may  also  be 
a  protector  with  the  hand  of  him  who  wins  the  suit,  and 
punish  the  unjust.  For  whoso  shall  judge  righteousness 
ought  not  to  hesitate  to  execute  and  fulfil  punishment 
against  the  malicious.  Who  soles  a  shoe,  if  he  dare  not 
put  it  on?  See,  dear  brothers,  that  councils,  courts,  and 
law  are  not  wrong. 

Thus  also  the  judge  may  and  should  be  a  Christian, 
although  the  contending  parties  sin,  because  they  do  not 
much  rather  permit  themselves  to  suffer  wrong.  There- 
fore a  Christian  may  also,  according  to  the  ordinance  of 
God,  bear  the  sword,  in  the  place  of  God,  against  the 
evil-doer  and  punish  him.  Though  he  is  for  the  sake  of 
the  evil,  he  is  also  ordained  by  God  for  the  protection 
and  defence  of  the  pious  (Rom.  xiii.,  3,  4).  Thus  will 
the  Scripture  be  true  where  it  says:  "  You  have  an  office 
not  of  men  but  of  God;  what  you  judge  he  decrees  above 
you.  Therefore  shall  the  fear  of  God  be  with  you,  and 
you  shall  act  with  diligence,  for  God  cannot  see  nor  for- 
give iniquity  "  (2  Chron.  xix.,  6,  7).  This  Scripture 
is  given  to  us  as  well  as  to  the  ancients,  since  it  pertains 
to  brotherly  love.  Do  you  say.  Well,  but  is  it  not  our 
duty  not  to  go  to  law?  Answer :  Yes.  We  ought  not  to 
do  anything  wrong.  Therefore  it  is  always  the  duty  of 
every  Christian,  should  he  ever  be  appointed  a  judge,  to 
administer  justice  to  citizens  and  foreigners.  That  must 
follow,  or  the  Scripture  must  be  broken  to  pieces,  which 
no  man  can  ever  accomplish. 

THE   SEVENTH    PASSAGE 

"  If  thy  brother  sin  against  thee,  go  and  rebuke  him  between  thee 
and  him  alone.     If  he  heareth  thee,  thou  hast  won  thy  brother.     If  he 


288  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

heareth  thee  not,  take  with  thee  one  or  two,  so  that  all  things  may 
be  established  from  the  mouth  of  two  or  three  witnesses.  If  he  will 
not  hear,  tell  it  to  the  church.  If  he  will  not  hear  the  church,  hold 
him  as  a  heathen  and  publican." — Matt,  xviii.,  15-17. 

From  this  passage  the  brothers  raise  a  grievous  outcry 
against  me  and  say:  "  If  a  magistrate  were  allowable 
among  Christians,  then  the  Christian  excommunication 
would  come  to  nothing  and  be  disused.  For  when  one 
punishes  the  evil-doer  with  the  sword,  the  church  may 
not  use  the  ban."  Answer  :  Excommunication  and  pun- 
ishment with  the  sword  are  two  very  different  commands 
given  by  God.  The  first  is  promised  and  given  to  the 
church  by  Christ  (Matt,  x.,  14;  xviii.,  18;  John  xx., 
23),  for  the  admission  of  the  pious  into  their  fellowship 
and  the  exclusion  of  the  unworthy,  to  use  according  to  its 
will.  So,  whatsoever  sins  of  men  the  Christian  church 
forgives  on  earth,  the  same  are  surely  forgiven  also  in 
heaven;  and  what  sins  are  not  forgiven  here  on  earth  the 
same  are  not  remitted  in  heaven. 

Since  Christ  delivered,  entrusted  and  committed  to  his 
bride,  the  Christian  church,  his  command  to  loose  and 
bind  in  his  bodily  absence,  as  he  had  received  it  from 
his  Father,  therefore  the  Christian  church  may  and  shall 
in  the  meantime  teach  the  people  all  that  Christ  has  com- 
manded her  to  teach.  Also  she  has  the  authority  and 
power  to  sign  all  men  with  the  water-baptism,  if  they  are 
willing  to  receive,  believe,  and  order  their  lives  by  such 
doctrine,  and  to  inscribe  and  receive  them  in  her  holy 
fellowship.  For  all  that  she  rules  and  governs  on  earth, 
the  same  is  done,  performed,  delivered  and  finished  in 
heaven  also.  At  some  distant  day  this  Christ,  her  Bride- 
groom, will  come  again  in  corporeal  and  visible  form,  in 
his  glory  and  majesty,  and  will  take  again  in  person  his 


On  the  Sword  289 

kingdom,  until  he  shall  deliver  it  up  to  his  Heavenly- 
Father,  as  Paul  writes  (i  Cor.  xv.,  24),  until  God  shall 
be  all  in  all.  Even  that  is  the  secret  [mystery]  in  Christ 
and  his  Church,  according  to  the  contents  of  the  letter 
to  the  Ephesians,  chapter  v. 

The  other  command  relates  to  the  external  and  tem- 
poral authority  and  government,  which  originally  was 
given  by  God  to  Adam  after  his  fall,  when  he  said  to 
Eve,  "  Under  the  man's  authority  shalt  thou  be,  and 
he  shall  rule  over  thee  "  (Gen.  iii.,  16).  If  now  Adam 
was  set  in  authority  over  his  Eve,  then  he  received 
authority  over  all  flesh  that  should  be  borne  by  Eve  in 
pain.  In  like  manner  also  God  entrusted  the  sword  to 
certain  other  god-fearing  men,  for  example,  to  Abraham, 
Moses,  Joshua,  Gideon  and  Samuel.  After  that  the 
wickedness  of  men  increased  and  became  overflowing, 
yea,  the  bulk  of  it  became  rampant.  The  people  at  one 
time  demanded  from  Samuel  a  king  and  abandoned  God. 
The  same  king,  at  the  command  of  God,  Samuel  gave 
them;  and  they  thereby  became  bound  to  endure  the 
royal  authority  and  subjection  that  the  king  exercised 
thereafter,  for  their  sins,  since  they  had  despised  and 
abandoned  God  and  had  earnestly  demanded  from  Sam- 
uel and  not  from  God  a  king,  like  the  other  nations. 
Such  subjection  and  burden  we  must  and  shall  now  day 
by  day  suffer,  endure  and  bear,  obediently  and  willingly; 
also  give  and  render  tribute  to  whom  tribute  belongs,  tax 
to  whom  tax  belongs,  fear  to  whom  fear  belongs,  honour 
to  whom  honour  belongs. 

And  for  this  our  sins  are  to  blame,  as  the  sins  of  Eve 
that  she  must  bring  forth  in  pain,  and  as  the  sins  of 
Adam,  that  he  must  eat  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his 
face.     For  if  we  were  pleased  to  be  obedient  to  God  and 


290  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

pious,  there  would  be  against  us  no  law,  sword,  fire, 
stocks  or  gallows.  But  since  we  have  continually 
sinned,  it  must  and  will  be  so,  and  neither  rebellion  nor 
anything  else  can  deliver  us  therefrom.  For  God's  word 
is  Yea  and  not  Nay.  But  if  we  heap  disobedience  upon 
disobedience,  and  increase  sins  with  sins,  in  his  wrath 
God  will  give  us  kings,  and  children  for  princes,  yea,  he 
will  let  the  effeminate  rule  over  us,  and  if  we  try  to 
escape  Rehoboam  we  shall  run  into  the  hands  of  Jero- 
boam. All  this  befalls  us  because  of  our  sins,  according 
to  the  common  and  true  proverb,  "  Like  people,  like 
king."  "A  stork  gobbles  up  the  frogs,  who  were  not 
willing  to  recognise  and  receive  as  king  the  harmless 
log." 

Wherefore,  it  is  most  necessary,  O  pious  Christians, 
with  greatest  diligence  and  most  earnest  devotion  to  pray 
Almighty  God  for  a  pious,  just  and  Christian  govern- 
ment on  earth,  under  which  we  may  live  a  peaceful  and 
quiet  life,  in  all  godliness  and  honesty.  When  God 
gives  us  such,  we  ought  to  receive  it  with  special  thank- 
fulness. If  he  does  not  give,  it  is  certain  that  we  are 
not  worthy  of  another  and  better,  because  of  our  sins. 
Of  this  case  the  Bible  in  the  Old  Testament  gives  us 
many  histories  as  examples. 

See  now,  dear  brothers,  that  these  two  ofifices  and 
commands,  of  the  ban  and  the  secular  sword,  are  not 
opposed  to  each  other,  since  they  are  both  from  God. 
For  the  Christian  ban  frecjuently  has  place  and  authority, 
as  for  example  in  many  spiritual  offences  against  which 
the  sword  may  by  no  means  be  used,  when  according 
to  the  occasion  of  the  sin  there  should  be  punishment. 
That  Christ  teaches  us  very  clearly,  when  he  says  to  the 
adulterous  woman:    "Woman,   hath    none   condemned 


"^^  On  the  Sword  291 

thee?"  She  says,  "No  one,  Lord."  He  answers, 
"  Neither  will  I  condemn  thee.  Go,  and  sin  no  more." 
Mark:  Christ  says.  Woman  hath  no  one  condemned 
thee?  As  if  he  would  have  said.  If  condemnation  had 
fallen  on  thee,  according  to  the  law  of  God  announced 
for  adultery,  I  should  say  nothing  to  the  judge,  for  it  is 
the  commandment  of  God  my  Father,  that  they  shall 
stone  the  adulterer.  But  since  no  one  has  condemned 
thee,  neither  will  I  condemn  thee,  for  it  is  not  my  office. 
I  have  not  been  appointed  a  judge  but  a  Saviour. 
Therefore  go  henca  and  sin  no  more.  That  is  my 
office,  to  forgive  sins  and  to  command  that  men  walk  no 
more  in  sins.  Hear  then,  dear  brothers,  how  Christ  so 
properly  exercises  his  own  office,  and  lets  the  judicial 
office  stand  at  its  own  value.  So  must  the  Church  also 
do  with  its  ban,  and  the  government  with  its  sword,  and 
neither  usurp  the  other's  office. 

THE   EIGHTH    PASSAGE 

"  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  Eye  for  eye  and  tooth  for 
tooth.  But  I  say  to  you,  Resist  not  evil,  but  if  one  give  thee  a 
blow  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  the  other  also." — Matt,  v.,  38,  39  ; 
Luke  vi.,  29. 

This  Scripture  is  cited  by  the  brothers  as  proudly  as  if 
they  meant  that  according  to  it  magistrates  must  un- 
buckle the  sword  if  they  wish  to  be  Christians.  But 
make  room,  don't  be  in  too  much  hurry,  dear  friends, 
and  hear,  you  who  wish  to  handle  the  Scriptures  aright. 
"  You  have  heard  it  hath  been  said  (in  the-  Old  Testa- 
ment, that  is  to  say),  Eye  for  eye  and  tooth  for  tooth." 
Therefore,  when  one  comes  and  accuses  another  before 
the  judge,  that  he  has  struck  out  an  eye  or  tooth  (that 
such  charges  were  allowed  to  the  ancients  you  will  find 


292  Balthasar  Hubmaicr 

in  the  fifth  book  of  Moses,  in  the  first  chapter)'  the 
judge  must  hear  the  complaint  and  testimony,  and  ad- 
judge eye  for  eye  and  tooth  for  tooth,  according  to  the 
law  of  Crod.  But  in  the  New  Testament  it  is  not  to  be 
done  in  that  way,  but  if  one  smites  thee  on  the  right 
cheek,  do  not  complain  of  him,  run  for  no  judge,  ask  no 
vengeance,  as  it  was  permitted  to  them  of  old,  but  turn 
the  other  also.  For  to  complain  is  always  forbidden  to 
Christians,  as  you  have  heard  in  i  Cor.  vi.,  7.  If  now 
you  suffer  and  do  not  injure,  you  do  the  business  right, 
for  so  has  Christ  specially  taught  each  one  to  do.  But 
the  magistrate  is  not  therefore  to  unbuckle  the  sword. 
Nay,  he  is  much  more  commanded  (if  such  mischief  or 
injury  should  happen  among  themselves  or  other  people) 
to  protect  the  pious  and  punish  the  wicked  with  the 
sword, — for  that  he  is  appointed  a  servant  of  God,  to 
the  good  for  peace,  to  the  evil  for  fear.  Therein  he 
does  the  will  of  God. 

Likewise,  although  the  two  contestants  about  worldly 
goods  sin  before  the  judge,  the  Christian  judge  does  not 
sin  when  he  judges  the  quarrel  justly.  So  even  if  no  one 
makes  a  complaint,  but  the  magistrate  knows  that  one 
has  done  another  violence  and  wrong,  he  should  none 
the  less  perform  his  commanded  office,  and  pronounce 
just  judgment  and  punish  the  offender.  For  so  he  bears 
not  the  sword  in  vain.  Thus  there  is  a  higher  standard 
[staffel,  position]  in  the  New  Testament  than  in  the  Old, 
that  he  who  is  injured  and  damaged  does  not  complain, 
and  yet  the  magistrate  punishes.  In  the  Old  Testament 
the  injured  complains  and  the  judge  punishes.  See, 
dear  brothers,  how  the  thirteenth   chapter  of   Romans 


'The  reference  is  to  Deut.  i.,  16-1S,  but  Ex.  xxi.,  24,  and  Lev. 
xxiv.,  20,  are  more  to  the  point. — Tr. 


On  the  Sword  293 

must  correspond  with  the  afore-mentioned  word  of 
Christ;  for,  if  we  put  the  two  passages  together  one  goes 
well  with  the  other. 

THE    NINTH    PASSAGE 

"  So  stand  now,  your  loins  girt  with  the  girdle  of  truth,  and  hav- 
ing put  on  the  breastplate  of  righteousness,  and  your  feet  shod  with 
the  preparation  of  the  gospel  of  peace  ;  in  addition  to  all,  having 
grasped  the  shield  of  faith,  with  which  ye  will  be  able  to  quench  all 
the  fiery  darts  of  the  evil  one  ;  and  take  up  the  helmet  of  salvation, 
and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God." — Eph.  vi., 

14-17- 

THE    TENTH    PASSAGE 

"  The  weapons  of  our  knighthood  are  not  carnal,  but  mighty  be- 
fore God  to  the  destruction  of  strongholds,  wherewith  we  destroy  the 
device  and  every  high  thing  that  lifts  itself  against  the  knowledge  of 
God." — 2  Cor.  X.,  4,  5. 

But  here  the  brothers  run  up  and  cry  very  greatly: 
"There,  you  see  what  the  harness  and  weapon  of  the 
Christian  should  be,  not  made  of  iron  or  long  wood ;  but 
the  gospel,  the  gospel,  faith,  faith,  the  word  of  God,  the 
word  of  God,  shall  be  our  sword  and  weapon.  Paul 
forsooth  is  able  to  scour  our  harness,  to  furbish  up  well 
our  Christian  weapons;  other  preparations  are  all  of  the 
devil."  Ansiver  :  Stop  running,  dear  brothers,  and  mark 
what  I  will  say  in  entire  peace.  First,  I  find  it  thus  in 
the  Scriptures.  Paul  speaks  to  us  in  these  words  to  the 
Ephesians  of  one  sword,  and  of  another  to  the  Romans, 
ch.  xiii.  Now  tell  me,  whether  here  and  there  one  sword 
or  two  are  written  about?  You  cannot  say  with  truth, 
dear  brothers,  that  he  has  written  of  one  sword.  For  to 
the  Ephesians  and  Corinthians  Paul  speaks  of  a  spiritual 
sword,  and  says  himself,  "It  is  the  word  of  God,  with 
which  one  shall  destroy  that  which  lifts  itself  against  the 


294  Balthasar  Iliibmaier 

knowledge  of  God."  So  again  he  writes  to  the  Romans 
of  a  temporal  sword,  which  one  bears  at  his  side,  with 
which  he  frightens  the  evil-doer,  who  cannot  be  fright- 
ened or  punished  with  the  word  of  God.  Now  if  there 
are  two  swords,  of  which  one  belongs  to  the  soul,  the 
other  to  the  body,  you  must  let  them  both  remain  in 
their  worthiness,  dear  brothers.' 

In  the  second  place,  I  beg,  for  the  love  of  God,  that 
you  will  read  eleven  lines  before  that  passage  from  the 
Ephesians  that  you  quote.  Then  you  will  certainly  see 
and  hear  that  Paul  there  describes  the  harness,  sword 
and  preparation,  which  we  are  to  use  against  the  devil, 
for  the  protection  of  the  soul,  and  not  the  sword  that  men 
use  against  evil  men,  here  upon  earth,  such  as  do  harm 
to  the  innocent  in  goods,  body  and  life.  Now  go  on  to 
read,  and  the  truth  will  be  disclosed  to  you  from  the 
lesson,  when  the  text  says:  "  Finally,  my  brethren,  make 
yourselves  strong  in  the  Lord,  and  in  the  might  of  his 
strength.  Put  on  the  armour  of  God,  that  ye  may  be 
able  to  stand  against  the  wily  assaults  of  the  devil.  For 
we  have  not  to  do  battle  with  flesh  and  blood,  but  with 
princes  and  authorities,  with  the  world-rulers  of  the 
darkness  in  this  world,  with  the  spirits  of  wickedness 
under  heaven,"  etc. 

Mark  here,  dear  friends;  if  your  hearts  were  right, 
you  would  say.  There  are  two  kinds  of  swords  in  the 
Scriptures;  one  spiritual,  which  we  are  to  use  against  the 
wily  assaults  of  the  devil,  as  Christ  has  commanded  us 
against  Satan  (Matt,  iv.,  i-ii).  That  is  the  word  of 
God.  Yes,  of  that  sword  Paul  speaks  here  to  the 
Ephesians  and  Corinthians  what  Christ  himself  says,  "  I 

'  The  meaning  plainly  is,  you  must  let  each  remain  in  its  proper 
place. — Tk. 


On  the  Sword  295 

have  not  come  to  send  peace  but  a  sword  *'  (Matt,  x., 
34).  Besides  there  is  a  temporal  sword,  which  is  borne 
for  the  protection  of  the  pious,  and  for  the  frightening 
of  the  wicked  here  on  earth.  With  that  the  magistrate 
is  girded,  that  he  may  with  it  preserve  the  peace  of  the 
land,  and  it  will  also  be  called  a  spiritual  sword  when  it 
is  used  according  to  the  will  of  God.  These  two  swords 
are  not  opposed  to  each  other. 

Thirdly,  inasmuch  as  Paul  teaches  that  we  should 
pray  for  the  government,  that  under  it  we  may  live  a 
peaceable  and  quiet  life  with  each  other  in  all  godliness 
and  honesty,  I  ask  one  question  of  you  all,  brothers,  in 
a  lump:  Would  a  believing  or  an  unbelieving  magistrate 
be  wise  and  skilful  to  preserve  his  people  in  such  a 
peaceful,  quiet,  godly  and  honest  life?  You  must,  must, 
must  always  confess  that  a  Christian  magistrate  will  strive 
much  more  earnestly  to  do  it  than  one  who  is  not  a 
Christian,  who  has  at  heart  neither  Christ,  God,  nor  god- 
liness, but  only  thinks  how  he  may  remain  in  his  power, 
pomp  and  ceremony.  You  have  examples  of  David,  Hez- 
ekiah,  and  Josiah,  as  contrasted  with  Saul,  Jeroboam 
and  Rehoboam.  Therefore  get  thee  behind  us  Satan,  and 
cease  to  mislead  simple  men;  under  thine  appearance  of 
great  patience  and  spirituality,  we  know  thee  by  thine  old 
conceit. 

THE   ELEVENTH    PASSAGE 

"  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bour and  hate  thine  enemy,  but  I  say  unto  you,  Love  your  enemy, 
speak  well  of  those  who  speak  ill  of  you,  do  well  to  them  that  hate 
you,  pray  for  those  who  injure  and  persecute  you,  that  you  may  be 
children  of  your  Father  in  Heaven,  For  he  letteth  his  sun  shine  upon 
the  evil  and  the  good,  and  giveth  rain  to  the  just  and  the  unjust. 
For  if  ye  love  those  that  love  you,  what  have  you  for  a  reward  ?  Do 
not  the  publicans  also  the  same?  and  if  ye  act  friendly  to  your 


296  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

brothers  who  do  likewise  to  you,  do  not  the  publicans  so  also? 
Therefore  you  shall  be  perfect,  like  as  your  Father  in  Heaven  is 
perfect." — Matt.  v..  43-48. 

Here  the  brothers  once  more  cry  out  murder  on  the 
magistrate,  and  say,  "  See  there,  the  magistrate  that  a 
Christian  is  willing  to  be  does  not  smite  the  wicked  with 
the  sword,  but  has  love  for  his  enemy,  does  him  good 
and  prays  for  him."  Ansiucr :  Well  now,  let  us  take 
these  words  of  Christ  for  ourselves  and  weigh  them,  and 
we  shall  not  err.  Christ  says,  "  You  have  heard  that  it 
hath  been  said,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  and  hate 
thine  enemy."  Mark  there  precisely  who  is  an  enemy, 
namely,  he  whom  one  hates  and  envies.  But  now  a 
Christian  should  hate  or  envy  nobody,  but  should  have 
love  for  all;  therefore  a  Christian  magistrate  has  no 
enemy,  for  he  hates  and  envies  no  one.  For  what  he 
does  with  the  sword  he  does  not  perform  out  of  hatred 
or  envy,  but  according  to  the  command  of  God.  There- 
fore to  punish  the  wicked  is  not  to  hate,  envy  or  act  the 
enemy.  For  in  that  case  even  God  were  moved  by 
hatred,  envy  and  enmity,  which  he  is  not,  since  when 
he  wills  to  punish  the  wicked  he  does  not  do  it  out  of 
envy  or  hate,  but  justice. 

Therefore  a  just  and  Christian  magistrate  does  not 
hate  him  whom  he  punishes;  he  is  sorrowful  of  heart 
that  he  rules  over  people  deserving  of  such  punishment. 
Yea,  what  he  does  he  does  according  to  the  ordinance 
and  earnest  command  of  God,  who  has  appointed  him  a 
servant  and  has  hung  the  sword  at  his  side  for  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice.  Therefore  at  the  last  day  he 
must  give  an  exact  account  of  how  he  has  used  the 
sword.  For  the  sword  is  nothing  else  than  a  good  rod 
and  scourge  of  God,  which  he  [the  magistrate]  is  called 


On  the  Sword  297 

to  use  against  the  wicked.  Now  what  God  calls  good  is 
good,  and  if  he  calls  thee  to  slay  thy  son,  it  would  be 
a  good  work.  When  therefore  God  wills  to  do  many 
things  through  his  creatures,  as  his  instruments,  which  he 
might  accomplish  alone  and  without  them,  he  yet  wills 
so  to  use  us  as  that  we  serve  each  other,  and  do  not  go 
idle,  but  each  one  fulfils  his  own  duty  to  which  God  has 
called  him.  One  shall  preach,  another  shall  protect 
him,  a  third  shall  till  the  field,  a  fourth  shall  do  his  work 
in  some  other  way,  so  that  we  shall  all  eat  our  bread  in 
the  sweat  of  our  faces.  Verily,  verily,  he  who  rules  in 
a  just  and  Christian  way  has  to  sweat  enough — he  does 
not  go  idle. 

Now  we  see  again  plainly  how  the  above-mentioned 
word  of  Christ  and  the  sword  so  completely  agree;  where- 
fore one  dare  not,  for  the  sake  of  brotherly  love,  ungird 
the  sword.  Yea,  and  if  I  am  a  Christian  and  rightly  dis- 
posed, if  I  fall  into  a  sin  I  shall  wish  and  pray  that  the 
magistrate  may  punish  me  quickly,  that  I  may  no  more 
heap  sin  on  sin.  Whence  it  follows  that  the  magistrate 
may  and  should  punish,  not  alone  from  justice,  but  from 
the  love  that  he  bears  to  the  evil-doer  (not  to  his  evil 
deed) ;  for  it  is  good  and  profitable  to  the  sinner  that  a 
millstone  be  at  once  hanged  about  his  neck,  and  he  be 
drowned  in  the  water  (Matt,  xviii.,  6). 

THE    TWELFTH    PASSAGE 

"Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said  to  them  of  old,  Thou  shalt  not 
kill,  but  he  who  kills  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment." — Matt. 
v.,  21. 

Why  is  it  now,  dear  brethren,  that  you  cry  out  to 
Heaven  and  shout  overloud,  "  It  stands  written,  '  Thou 
shalt  not  kill.  Thou  shalt  not  kill.'  "     Now  we  have  also 


298  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

the  command  in  the  Old  Testament,  plain  and  clear, 
that  we  nevertheless  shall  kill.  Do  you  say,  "  Yes,  but 
God  commanded  them"?  then  I  reply,  God  has  also 
commanded  that  the  magistrate  shall  kill  and  degrade 
the  turbulent.  He  has  for  that  girded  them  with  the 
sword,  and  not  in  vain,  as  Paul  writes  to  the  Romans. 
Do  you  now  ask,  pious  Christian,  how  "  kill  "  and  "  do 
not  kill  "  agree  with  each  other?     Answer  :  completely: 

As  be  chaste  and  be  married,  Matt,  xix.,  3-12. 

As  have  a  wife  and  have  one  not,  i  Cor.  vii.,  25-30. 

As  a  testimony  is  true  and  is  not  true,  John  v.,  31,  32; 
viii.,  14. 

As  have  all  things  and  have  nothing,  2  Cor.  vi.,  10. 

As  to  be  rich  and  to  be  poor,  ib. 

As  to  preacli  the  gospel  to  every  creature,  and  yet  not 
cast  pearls  before  swine,  Matt,  xxviii.,  19;  vii.,  6. 

As  to  love  father  and  mother  and  to  hate  them,  Ex. 
XX.,  12;  Luke  xiv.,  26. 

As  to  see  God  and  not  see  him.  Gen.  xxxii.,  30;  John 
i.,  18. 

As  all  men  shall  be  saved,  and  those  who  do  not  be- 
lieve shall  be  condemned,  John  i.,  7-12. 

As  to  swear  by  the  name  of  God  and  not  to  swear, 
Deut.  vi.,  13;  Matt,  v.,  34. 

As  not  to  sin  and  yet  to  have  sin,  i  John  i.,  8;  iii.,  6. 

As  to  sell  all  things  that  we  have  and  give  to  the  i)oor, 
and  yet  to  give  of  our  superfluity  that  we  come  not  to 
poverty,  Matt,  xix.,  21;  2  Cor.  viii.,  13-15. 

As  to  be  poor,  and  happy  to  give  to  him  that  takes. 
Matt,  v.,  42. 

As  Christ  to  be  always  with  us  to  the  end  of  the  world, 
and  yet  not  to  have  him  always  among  us,  Matt,  xxviii., 
20;  John  xvi.,  7. 


On  the  Sword  299 

As  God  punishes  the  wickedness  of  the  father  on  the 
son,  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation,  and  yet  the  son 
does  not  bear  the  wickedness  of  the  father,  Ex.  xx.,  5; 
Ezek.  xviii.,  17. 

As  we  should  not  do  good  works  before  men,  and  yet 
should  do  good  works  that  men  may  see  them.  Matt,  v., 
16;  vi.,  I. 

As  we  do  not  know  the  mind  of  God,  and  yet  he  has 
revealed  unto  us  the  secret  of  his  will,  Rom.  xi,,  33;  i 
Cor.  ii.,  7-10. 

As  ask  of  God  all  things  and  receive  them,  also  ask 
and  yet  not  receive  them.  Matt,  vii.,  7;  James  iv.,  2. 

As  beat  the  swords  into  ploughshares  and  the  spears 
into  pruning  hooks,  and  beat  the  ploughshares  into 
swords  and  the  pruning  hooks  into  spears,  Isa.  ii.,  4; 
Joel  iii.,  10. 

As  we  shall  not  judge  and  yet  judge,  and  set  those  in- 
ferior to  us  to  judge,  Luke  vi.,  37;   i  Cor.  vi.,  2-4. 

As  Abraham  was  justified  by  faith,  and  yet  by  works, 
Rom.  iv.,  3;  James  ii.,  21;  Heb.  xi.,  8. 

As  to  please  our  neighbour,  and  yet  not  to  please  men, 
Rom.  XV.,  2;  Gal.  i.,  10. 

As  to  hate  evil,  and  yet  bless  those  that  persecute  us. 
Matt,  xviii.,  21;  Rom.  xii.,  9. 

As  we  shall  become  children,  and  yet  shall  not  be 
children,  Matt,  xix.,  14;   i  Cor.  xiii.,  11;  Eph.  iv.,  14. 

As  God  wills  all  men  to  be  saved,  and  yet  whom  he 
will  he  pities,  and  whom  he  will  he  hardens,  i  Tim.  ii., 
4;  Rom.  ix.,  18. 

As  the  yoke  of  Christ  is  sweet,  and  yet  impossible  to 
men,  Matt,  xi.,  20;  xix.,  26. 

As  the  angels  desire  to  see  the  face  of  God,  and  yet  if  his 
glory  appears  we  shall  be  satisfied,  i  Pet.  i.,  12;  Ps.  xvi.,ii. 


300  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

As  the  judgment  of  God  is  good,  and  yet  (led  has 
given  a  judgment  that  is  not  good,  Rom.  vii.,  12. 

As  that  the  king  should  not  have  many  wives,  and  yet 
Rehoboam  liad  fourteen,  Abijah  as  many,  David  also 
many,  and  Solomon  700,  besides  300  concubines,  Ueut. 
xvii.,  17;  2  Chron.  xi.,  21;  xiii.,  21;   i  Kings  xi.,  3. 

As  God  will  not  keep  his  anger  forever,  and  yet  the 
condemned  must  go  into  everlasting  fire,  Ps.  ciii.,  9; 
Matt.  XXV.,  46. 

As  that  there  is  no  law  given  for  the  righteous,  and  yet 
Christ  has  given  us  anew  commandment,  i  Tim.  i.,  9; 
John  xiii.,  34. 

As  God  does  not  tempt,  and  yet  God  did  tempt  Abra- 
ham, James  i.,  13;  Gen.  xxii.,  i. 

As  the  Father  and  Christ  are  one,  and  yet  the  Father 
is  more  than  Christ,  John  x.,  18,  30;  xiv.,  6-12. 

And  many  similar  passages,  which  appear  to  be  op- 
posed to  each  other,  as  the  wings  of  the  Cherubim,  and 
yet  all  alike  come  to  a  head  in  Christ.  Therefore  one 
should  split  the  claws  of  Scripture  and  repeat  it  well,  be- 
fore he  eats  (that  is  believes),  or  he  will  eat  death  there- 
from, and  through  half-truth  and  half-judgment  will 
wander  widely,  widely  from  the  whole  truth,  and  go 
seriously  astray.  A  comparison:  Christ  says,  "This  is 
my  body,  which  is  given  for  you;  this  do  in  remembrance 
of  me."  That  is  now  a  whole  truth.  Who  now  judges 
from  this  a  half  truth,  says  that  the  bread  is  the  body  of 
Christ  and  errs.  But  he  who  judges  the  whole  truth, 
says  that  the  bread  is  the  body  of  Christ,  which  is  given 
for  us,  but  not  bodily,  in  itself,  or  substantially,  but  re- 
tained in  remembrance  according  to  the  command  given 
by  Christ  at  the  last  supper;  and  that  is  the  whole  truth 
and  nothing  else  is.     He  who  understands  that  can  also 


On  the  Sword  301 

see  that  ' '  kill ' '  and  ' '  kill  not ' '  may  be  entirely  true  and 
consistent  with  each  other. 

Now  then  we  will  take  the  word  of  Christ  for  our- 
selves, and  see  whether  the  magistrate  is  forbidden  to 
kill.  Christ  says,  "Thou  shalt  not  kill,"  and  he  goes 
on  to  the  roots  of  killing  and  says,  "  But  I  say  to  you,  he 
who  is  angry  with  his  brother  is  in  danger  of  the  judg- 
ment. But  he  who  says  to  his  brother,  '  Raca, '  is  in 
danger  of  the  council.  But  he  who  says,  '  Thou  fool '  is 
in  danger  of  hell  fire."  Reading  that  in  addition,  dear 
brothers,  you  shall  more  clearly  see  what  killing  Christ 
has  forbidden,  namely,  the  killing  that  goes  with  wrath, 
ridicule,  and  abuse.  But  the  magistrate  (I  speak  of  the 
true  magistrate)  does  not  kill  from  wrath,  is  not  moved 
by  words  of  ridicule  and  abuse,  but  [acts]  according  to 
the  commandment  of  God,  who  has  earnestly  com- 
manded him  to  slay  the  wicked  and  to  keep  the  pious  in 
peace. 

Wherefore  now  the  magistrate  may  kill  the  evil-doer, 
and  in  doing  this  he  is  guiltless  according  to  the  ordi- 
nance of  God,  and  himself  cannot  be  judged.  And  I, 
or  any  other  required  and  summoned  thereto,  am  guilt- 
less in  helping  him;  and  whoso  withstands  him  with- 
stands the  ordinance  of  Christ  and  himself  will  incur  the 
eternal  judgment.  Do  not  believe  me  here,  dear  brothers, 
but  believe  Paul,  that  you  will  find  yourselves  safe. 
Therefore  those  whom  we  call  hangmen  were  in  the  Old 
Testament  pious,  honourable,  and  brave  men,  and  were 
called  prefects,  that  is,  executors  of  the  ordinance  and 
law  of  God.  Since  it  is  honourable  to  the  judge  to  con- 
demn with  the  mouth  the  guilty,  how  can  it  be  wrong  to 
kill  the  same  with  the  sword  and  fulfil  the  word  of  the 
judge,  since  the  executor  of  the  law  strikes  or  kills  with 


302  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

the  sword  none  whom  the  judge  had  not  commanded 
him?  We  read  that  Solomon  commanded  the  lionourable 
Benaiah  to  kill  Shimei,  Adonijah,  and  Joab  (i  K.  ii.). 
Saul  commanded  Doeg  to  kill  the  priests  (i  Sam.  xxii., 
1 8),  and  David  ordered  his  servant  to  slay  the  slayer  of 
Saul  (2  Sam.  i.,  15).  Since  neither  the  judge  nor  the 
executioner  kill  the  evil-doer,  but  the  law  of  God,  there- 
fore are  the  judge,  magistrate  and  executioner  called 
in  the  Scripture  servants  of  God  and  not  murderers. 
God  judges,  condemns  and  kills  through  them,  and  not 
they  themselves.  Whence  it  follows,  they  who  would 
not  kill  the  evil-doer  but  let  him  live,  even  murder  and 
sin  against  the  command,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill."  For 
he  who  does  not  protect  the  pious  kills  him  and  is  guilty 
of  his  death,  as  well  as  he  who  does  not  feed  the  hungry. 

THE    THIRTEENTH    PASSAGE 

"The  kings  of  this  world,"  says  Christ,  "lord  it,  and  those  in 
authority  are  called  '  Gracious  lords.' '  But  you  not  so." — Luke 
xxii.,  25,  26. 

What  great  maxim  you  make  there,  and  especially  of 
the  words,  "  but  you  not  so"  I  cannot  satisfactorily  tell. 
But  I  take  pity  on  you  as  before.  For  you  have  not  well 
seen  either  the  preceding  or  the  following  words,  for  if 
you  did  you  would  understand  them  right  and  we  should 
soon  come  to  agreement.  Well,  then,  we  will  begin  this 
passage  three  lines  farther  back,  and  the  meaning  will 
then  appear  plain.  Thus  reads  the  text:  "  There  arose 
a  contention  among  the  disciples,  which  of  them  should 
be  ruler,"  who  should  have  the  authority  in  external  and 
carnal  things,  since  the  secular  authority  is  over  flesh  and 
'  Our  English  version  has  it  "  benefactors." 


On  the  Sword  303 

body  and  over  temporal  things,  but  not  over  the  soul. 
To  him  according  to  the  divine  order  the  sword  is  en- 
trusted, not  that  he  may  fight,  war,  strive  and  tyrannise 
with  it,  but  to  defend  the  wise,  protect  the  widow,  main- 
tain the  pious,  and  to  tolerate  all  who  are  distressed  or 
persecuted  by  force.  This  is  the  duty  of  the  magistrate, 
as  God  himself  many  times  in  the  Scriptures  declares  it, 
which  may  not  take  place  without  blood  and  killing, 
wherefore  God  has  hung  the  sword  at  his  side,  and  not  a 
fox's  tail. 

THE    LAST    PASSAGE    A    SANCTION    OF    MAGISTRACY 
AMONG    CHRISTIANS 

Let  every  man  be  subject  to  the  magistrate  and  power, 
for  there  is  no  power  apart  from  God.  But  the  power 
everywhere  is  ordained  by  God;  so  that  he  who  sets 
himself  against  the  power  strives  against  the  ordinance 
of  God.  But  he  who  strives  will  receive  condemnation 
of  himself.  For  the  rulers  do  not  make  the  good  work 
fear  but  the  evil.  Wilt  thou  not  fear?  then  do  good,  so 
shalt  thou  have  praise  from  the  same.  But  if  thou  doest 
evil,  then  fear,  for  authority  bears  not  the  sword  in  vain. 
He  is  God's  servant,  a  judge  for  punishment  over  him 
that  does  evil.  So  you  are  obliged  to  submit,  not  alone 
because  of  the  punishment,  but  because  of  conscience; 
wherefore  you  must  also  give  tribute,  for  they  are  God's 
servants  who  provide  such  protection.  (Rom.  xiii.,  i-6.) 
This  passage  alone,  dear  brothers,  is  enough  to  sanction 
the  magistracy  against  all  the  gates  of  hell.  When  Paul 
says  plainly,  "  Let  every  one  be  submissive  to  the  magis- 
trate," whether  he  is  a  believer  or  unbeliever,  you  ought 
always  to  be  submissive  and  obedient.     He  gives  as  a 


304  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

reason,  "  For  there  is  no  power  but  of  God."  Where- 
fore this  obedience  is  the  duty  of  all  who  are  not  against 
God,  since  God  has  not  ordained  the  magistrate  against 
himself.  Now  the  magistrate  will  punish  the  wicked,  as 
he  is  bound  to  do  by  his  own  soul's  salvation;  and  if  he 
is  not  able  to  do  this  alone,  when  he  summons  his  sub- 
jects by  bell  or  gun,  by  letter  or  any  other  way,  they  are 
bound  by  their  soul's  salvation  also  to  stand  by  their 
prince  and  help  him,  so  that  according  to  the  will  of  God 
the  wicked  may  be  slain  and  uprooted. 

Nevertheless,  the  subjects  should  carefully  test  the 
spirit  of  their  ruler,  whether  he  is  not  incited  by  haughti- 
ness, pride,  intoxication,  envy,  hatred,  or  his  own  profit, 
rather  than  by  love  of  the  common  weal  and  the  peace 
of  society.  When  that  is  the  case,  he  does  not  bear  the 
sword  according  to  the  ordinance  of  God.  But  if  you 
know  that  the  ruler  is  punishing  the  evil  only,  so  that 
the  pious  may  remain  in  peace  and  uninjured,  then  help, 
counsel,  stand  by  him,  as  often  and  as  stoutly  as  you  are 
able;  thus  you  fulfil  the  ordinance  of  God  and  do  his 
work,  and  not  a  work  of  men. 

But  if  a  ruler  should  be  childish  or  foolish,  yea,  even 
entirely  unfit  to  rule,  one  may  with  reason  then  escape 
from  him  and  choose  another,  since  on  account  of  a 
wicked  ruler  God  has  often  punished  a  whole  land.  But 
if  it  may  not  well  be  done,  reasonably  and  peaceably  and 
without  great  shame  and  rebellion,  he  should  be  suffered 
as  one  whom  God  has  given  us  in  his  anger,  and  wills 
(since  we  are  worthy  of  no  better)  thus  to  chastise  us  for 
our  sins. 

He  then  who  will  not  aid  the  magistrate  to  seek  out  the 
widows  and  orphans  and  other  oppressed,  and  to  punish 
the  outragers  and  ravishers  of  the  land,  contends  against 


On  the  Sword  305 

the  ordinance  of  God  and  will  come  to  the  judgment, 
since  he  acts  contrary  to  the  command  and  ordinance  of 
God,  who  wills  that  the  pious  should  be  protected  and 
the  wicked  punished.  But  if  you  are  obedient,  you 
should  know  that  you  have  rendered  such  obedience, 
not  to  the  magistrate  or  to  man,  but  to  God  himself,  and 
have  become  a  peculiar  servant  of  God,  just  as  the  magis- 
trate himself  is  nothing  but  a  servant  of  God.  For  that 
the  magistrate  has  power  and  authority  to  put  to  death 
the  wicked,  Paul  plainly  testifies  when  he  says,  "  The 
power  does  not  bear  the  sword  in  vain."  If  the  magis- 
trate has  no  authority  to  kill,  why  has  he  the  sword  at 
his  side?  He  then  bears  it  in  vain,  which  Paul  will  not 
suffer.  He  adds  also  explicitly,  "  The  power  is  a  servant 
of  God."  Where  are  they  then  that  say,  "  A  Christian 
may  not  bear  the  sword  "?  If  a  Christian  may  not  be  a 
servant  of  God,  if  he  may  not  obey  the  command  of  God 
without  sin,  then  were  God  not  good.  He  has  made  an 
ordinance  which  a  Christian  may  not  fulfil  without  sin — 
that  is  blasphemy! 

Accordingly,  I  counsel  you  with  true  love,  brothers, 
turn  back,  take  heed  to  yourselves.  You  have  stumbled 
badly,  and  under  the  cloak  of  spirituality  and  humility 
have  devised  much  mischief  against  God  and  brotherly 
love.  All  affairs  remain  more  peaceful  where  one  sees 
a  Christian  ruler  and  his  subjects  agree  in  a  manly, 
brotherly,  and  Christian  fashion,  and  many  a  tyrant 
would  cease  his  striving  and  urging  against  God  and  all 
reason,  and  sheathe  his  sword  according  to  the  command 
of  God.  Yet  if  God  wills  that  we  should  suffer,  his  will 
cannot  be  hindered  by  our  protection. 

To  sum  up:  no  one  can  deny  that  to  protect  the  pious 
and  punish  the  wicked  is  the  strict  command  of  God, 


3o6  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

which  stands  to  the  judgment  day.  Examine  the  Scrip- 
tures, Christian  reader,  Is.  i.,  Jer.  xxi,  xxii.,  Ps.  Ixi., 
Mi.  vi.,  Na.  iii.,  Prov.  iii.,  Zach.  vii.,  Habakkuk 
throughout.  This  command  binds  the  ruler  up  to  the 
present  day,  as  well  as  those  five  centuries  ago.  For 
Christ  says  to  you,  "  Thou  shalt  obey  the  secular  king 
and  call  the  ruler  gracious  Lord.  Not  only  so,  but  the 
greatest  among  you  shall  be  as  the  least,  and  the  fore- 
most as  the  servant."  If  one  is  conscious  that  Christ 
here  commands  those  who  would  preach  his  gospel  to 
serve,  they  ought  not  to  undertake  any  foreign  office, 
nor  entangle  themselves  with  secular  business,  as  hitherto 
our  Pope  and  bishops  have  become  the  first  and  last  in 
all  secular  business — yea,  even  in  the  business  of  war. 
So  that  when  two  cocks  in  Germany  or  Italy  have  pecked 
at  one  another  in  a  scrimmage,  the  Pope  and  his  cardinals 
have  taken  sides  with  one  of  them.'  This  Christ  cannot 
suffer,  and  so  he  says  that  the  preachers  of  his  gospel 
must  be  free  of  secular  affairs,  as  also  Paul  writes  to 
Timothy.     (2  Tim.  ii.) 

In  the  second  place:  the  text  clearly  points  out  that 
each  of  the  disciples  desired  the  pre-eminence,  and  they 
were  quarrelling  which  among  them  should  be  greatest. 
Jesus  could  not  see  such  a  quarrel.  It  belongs  to  no 
Christian,  out  of  lust  for  authority,  to  contend  to  be  a 
ruler,  but  much  rather  to  flee  it.  For  if  there  is  a  fright- 
ful post  to  be  found,  outside  of  the  sphere  of  the  preacher, 
it  is  the  post  of  magistrate  and  secular  ruler.  Christ 
speaks  to  this  effect:  "The  kings  of  this  world  lord  it 
and  are  called  Gracious  Lord."     [Luke  xxii.,  25.]     But 

'  The  Pope  has  forbidden  conflict  between  two  men,  and  yet  he 
has  put  eighty  thousand  men  in  the  field  and  made  them  fight,  and 
added  his  benediction  and  indulgence. — Marginal  note  by  Hiibmaier. 


On  the  Sword  307 

a  Christian,  if  he  is  in  authority,  does  not  lord  it.  He 
does  not  desire  to  be  called  Gracious  Lord,  or  Sir;  but 
he  considers  that  he  is  a  servant  of  God,  and  is  diligent 
in  performing  the  ordinance  of  God,  according  to  which 
he  protects  the  pious  and  punishes  the  wicked.  He 
exalts  himself  above  none,  but  takes  well  to  heart  the 
word  of  Christ  that  the  foremost  shall  be  as  a  servant. 
Do  you  see,  brothers,  that  here  Christ  himself  points  out 
how  the  oldest  shall  recognise  and  hold  himself  to  be  the 
youngest  and  the  foremost  to  be  a  servant? — therefore 
there  must  always  be,  among  Christians  old  and  young, 
masters  and  servants,  or  he  has  given  us  this  rule  to  no 
purpose.  So,  dear  brothers,  make  no  patchwork  of  the 
Scripture,  but  putting  the  foregoing  and  following  words 
together  in  one  entire  judgment,  you  will  then  come  to 
a  complete  understanding  of  the  Scriptures,  and  you  will 
see  how  the  text  does  not  forbid  the  magistracy  to  the 
Christian,  but  teaches  one  not  to  quarrel,  war  and  fight 
for  it,  nor  conquer  land  and  people  with  the  sword  and 
force.  That  is  against  God.  Also  we  should  not  greatly 
desire  to  be  saluted  as  Lords,  like  secular  kings,  princes 
and  lords.  For  the  magistracy  is  not  lordship  and 
knighthood,  but  service  according  to  the  ordinance  of 
God. 

THE    FOURTEENTH    PASSAGE 

"  Avenge  not  yourselves,  beloved,  but  give  place  to  the  wrath  [of 
God]  ;  for  it  is  written.  Vengeance  is  mine,  I  will  repay,  saith  the 
Lord.  So,  if  thine  enemy  hunger  feed  him,  if  he  thirst  give  him 
drink." — Rom.  xii.,  19. 

Whoever  has  attended  to  the  tenth  and  eleventh  pass- 
ages above  cited  will  easily  answer.  For  as  the  Christian 
ruler  has  no  enemy,  he  hates  no  one;  therefore  he  desires 


3o8  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

vengeance  on  none.  Rut  he  must  do  whatever  he  does 
according  to  the  command  of  God,  who  wills  through 
him,  as  his  work  testifies,  to  punish  the  wicked  and 
dangerous  people.  He  does  this,  not  in  wratli,  but  with 
sorrowful  heart.  But  vengeance  follows  wrath;  so,  if  one 
wishes  to  avenge  himself  because  of  his  own  wrath,  that 
is  here  forbidden.  Since  vengeance  is  God's,  he  will  re- 
pay the  evil.  (Deut.  xxxii.,  Heb.  x.,  Prov.  xxv.)  Paul 
gives  the  reason  for  this,  from  the  twelfth  chapter  to  the 
thirteenth:  we  should  not  avenge  ourselves,  because  God 
has  ordained  the  magistracy  for  vengeance,  as  his  ser- 
vants, whose  duty  is  to  protect,  to  punish,  to  avenge. 

THE    FIFTEENTH    PASSAGE 

"Christ  is  our  head  and  we  are  his  members." — Eph.  i.,  4,  5  ; 
Col.  i.,  2. 

Here  I  must  indulge  myself,  for  they  cry  out  at  me: 
"  Do  you  not  see  that  our  head,  Christ,  has  not  striven 
or  fought  ?  Therefore  we  must  not  strive,  but  patiently 
go  to  death."  First,  dear  brothers,  I  fear  you  do  not 
know  what  divine  or  Christlike  means,  for  there  is  a  great 
difference  between  them.  As  to  that,  if  we  look  at  our- 
selves as  we  are  by  nature,  Christ  is  not  our  head  and 
we  are  not  his  members.  While  he  is  righteous  and 
truthful,  we  are  wicked  and  full  of  lies.  Christ  is  a 
child  of  grace,  we  are  children  of  wrath.  Christ  never 
did  any  sin,  we  are  conceived  and  born  in  sins.  Do  you 
see  how  as  members  we  agree  with  the  head  ? 

Second,  that  Paul  nevertheless  calls  us  members  of 
Christ  pertains  to  faith.  That  is  said  so  many  times. 
If  we  know  ourselves,  that  we  ought  to  be  members  of 
Christ,  and  yet  are  not,  we  confess  ourselves  guilty  and 


On  the  Sword  309 

pray  God  for  pardon  through  Christ  Jesus.  Through 
having  done  this,  we  firmly  believe  that  God  has  for- 
given us  our  sins.  Now  by  faith  we  have  become  mem- 
bers of  Christ,  not  in  nature,  that  is,  in  will  and  works. 
So  far  as  flesh  is  concerned,  that  cannot  be  obedient  to 
the  command  of  God,  but  by  faith  power  is  given  us  to 
become  children  of  God,  after  the  spirit  and  soul,  and 
to  will  and  work  good — though  still  all  our  works  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh  are  blameworthy,  evil,  and  worthless,  and 
not  at  all  righteous  in  the  sight  of  God. 

Third,  since  we  now  know  that  only  by  faith  are  we 
children  of  God  and  members  of  Christ,  we  have  not  all 
one  duty.  So  that  one  should  take  the  lead  in  teaching, 
another  protects,  a  third  tills  the  earth,  a  fourth  makes 
shoes  and  clothes.  Yet  these  works  all  proceed  from 
faith,  and  are  done  for  the  benefit  of  our  neighbour. 
Paul  also  writes  further:  "Wherefore  you  must  needs 
be  in  subjection,  not  only  because  of  the  wrath,  but  also 
for  conscience' sake. "  [Rom.  xiii.,  5.]  What  does  that 
mean?  It  is  this:  the  secular  power  is  ordained  of  God 
for  the  peace  of  society — even  if  there  were  no  Scripture 
about  it  to  make  us  obedient  to  the  government,  our  own 
conscience  and  knowledge  tell  us  that.  We  should  help, 
protect,  defend  the  government,  and  pay  service  and 
taxes,  so  that  we  may  remain  in  worldly  peace  with  one 
another;  for  to  have  peace  in  this  world  is  not  contrary 
to  a  Christian  life.  Otherwise  Paul  would  never  have 
taught  us  through  Timothy  to  pray  for  kings,  princes, 
and  governors;  but  to  keep  peace  with  all  men,  as  much 
as  in  us  lies,  that  is  right  and  Christian,  (i  Tim.  ii., 
Rom.  ii.)  But  if  God  pleases  to  send  us  the  exact  con- 
trary, we  must  receive  it  with  patience.  Do  you  see 
now,  dear  brothers,  that  your  own  conscience  compels 


3IO  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

you  to  recognise  that  it  is  wise  and  helpful  to  punish  the 
wicked  and  protect  the  good  ?  That  is  called,  in  good 
German,  "a  general  land-peace."  So,  says  Paul,  to 
further  and  preserve  this  peace  we  must  pay  taxes,  cus- 
toms and  tribute. 

Here  mark  you,  dear  brothers,  if  government  is  so 
unchristian  that  a  Christian  may  not  bear  the  sword, 
wherefore  do  we  help  and  preserve  it  with  our  taxes  ? 
If  we  are  not  under  obligation  to  prevent  wrong  to  our 
neighbour  as  well  as  to  ourselves,  why  do  we  choose  a 
magistrate  ?  Or  are  those  in  the  magistracy  not  our 
neighbours  ?  If  we  desire  to  live  in  peace  under  a 
heathen  government,  why  not  much  more  under  a  Christ- 
ian ?  Since  we  are  under  a  Christian  government,  the 
ordinance  of  God  should  appeal  much  more  to  our  hearts 
than  under  a  heathen.  To  what  conclusion  does  that 
lead,  dear  brothers  ? 

But  Paul  takes  us  farther  and  says:  "  The  power  is  a 
servant  of  God,"  who  shall  use  his  protecting  power  for 
the  good  of  our  neighbour  and  the  preservation  of  a 
general  land-peace.  Where  is  it  written  then  that  a 
Christian  may  not  be  such  a  servant  of  God  as  fulfils 
the  command  of  God  to  the  good  of  all  men  ?  Or  that 
he  may  not  undertake  such  a  divine  work  (as  Paul  him- 
self calls  it)  according  to  the  ordinance  of  God  ?  God 
surely  wills  that  we  should  share  his  grace  with  all,  until 
we  come  to  the  real  prohibition  of  his  Holy  Word;  and 
that  we  should  remain  and  persist  in  the  same,  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  The  peace  of  God  be  with  you 
all.     Amen. 

TRUTH    IS    IMMORTAL 


A  FORGOTTEN  HYMN  OF  HUBMAIER'S 

Much  of  the  earliest  Anabaptist  literature  is  in  the  form 
of  hymns,  often  crude  in  expression  and  halting  in  metre, 
but  full  of  spiritual  fervour.  It  would  be  surprising  if 
so  fertile  a  writer  as  Hiibmaier  had  contributed  nothing 
to  this  sort  of  literature;  and  still  stranger,  if  he  did 
write  hymns,  that  none  of  them  should  be  preserved. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  several  of  the  old  Anabaptist  docu- 
ments contain  a  hymn  that  is  attributed  to  Hiibmaier. 
It  is  not  unknown,  being  printed  in  full,  but  anony- 
mously, in  Wackernagel's  great  collection,'  vol.  iii.,  p. 
126  sq.  The  title  there  given  is,  "  Ein  preiss  lied 
gottlichs  worts  "  (A  song  in  praise  of  God's  word).  As 
to  the  authorship,  the  editor  contents  himself  with  re- 
marking that  the  hymn  has  been  attributed  without 
satisfactory  reason  to  Erasmus  Alber.  Beck,  Hoschek, 
and  Loserth  agree  that  the  hymn  is  undoubtedly  Hiib- 
maier's.  The  text  is  herewith  reprinted  from  Wacker- 
nagel,  with  a  metrical  translation,  in  which  the  attempt 
has  been  made  to  follow  the  original  as  closely  as  the 
exigencies  of  English  versification  would  admit — at  any 
rate,  to  represent  fairly  the  spirit  of  the  original. 

^ Das  Deutsche  Kirchenlied,  three  vols.,  Leipzig,  1870. 


311 


312  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

Frewt  euch,  frewt  euch  in  diser  zeyt, 
jr  werden  Christen  alle! 
Wann  yetz  in  alien  landen  weyt 
Gots  wort  her  dringt  mit  schalle. 

Est  ist  kein  man,  ders  weren  kan, 
das  habt  ir  wol  vernummen, 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan 
den  bosen  als  den  frummen. 

Adam,  Adam,  du  alter  greysz, 
wie  hat  es  dir  ergangen  ? 
Nach  deynem  fall  im  Paradeysz 
hast  du  von  Got  empfangen 

Sein  Gotlich  wort  genumnien  an, 
vnd  bist  dadurch  erhalten, 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan 
den  jungen  als  den  alten. 

Noe,  Noe,  du  Gottes  man! 

Got  hat  dich  auszerkoren, 

Das  du  seyn  wort  hast  gnummen  an, 

hat  er  zu  dir  geschworen, 

Mit  wasser  nit  ertrincken  Ian, 
wolt  von  seim  zorn  abweichen, 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan 
den  armen  als  den  reichen. 

Abraham,  Abraham  geb  gut  beschcyd: 
er  glaubet  Got,  seim  Herren, 
Das  ward  jm  zelt  zur  grechtigkeyt, 
seyn  samen  wolt  er  meren. 

Also  hat  Gott  den  alien  than, 
die  seinem  wort  vertrawen, 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan 
den  die  darauff  thiind  bawen. 


A  Forgotten  Hymn  3^3 

Rejoice,  rejoice,  ye  Christians  all, 

And  break  forth  into  singing! 
Since  far  and  wide  on  every  side 

The  word  of  God  is  ringing. 
And  well  we  know,  no  human  foe 

Our  souls  from  Christ  can  sever; 
For  to  the  base,  and  men  of  grace, 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 

O  Adam,  Adam,  first  of  men, 

What  future  did  fate  send  you? 
After  your  fall  in  Paradise 

How  did  your  God  befriend  you  ? 
His  holy  word  from  him  you  heard, 

That  word  which  faileth  never, 
To  tend 'rest  age,  to  hoary  sage, 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 

O  Noah,  Noah,  man  of  God, 

Thy  God  hath  thee  selected 
And  sworn  to  thee  an  oath,  since  thou 

His  word  hast  not  rejected: 
"  With  flood  again  to  drown  all  men 

My  wrath  shall  hasten  never  ' ' ; 
To  swollen  pelf,  to  want  itself, 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 

And  Abraham  believed  his  God, 

And  so,  for  his  devotion, 
His  faith  became  his  righteousness, 

His  seed  like  sands  of  ocean. 
Thus  has  God  done  for  every  one. 

Who  trust  him  perish  never; 
To  every  one  who  builds  thereon 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 


SH  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

Loth,  Loth,  ein  frumm  Gotforchtig  man, 
Got  thet  jm  zwen  Engel  senden, 
Hiesz  jn  ausz  Sodom  zihen  than 
und  solt  sich  nicht  vmbwenden : 

Alsbald  hiib  Gott  zu  regnen  an 
mit  schwefel  und  mit  feiire, 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan, 
kumbt  vns  alien  zu  steiire. 

David,  David,  ein  kiing  und  herr, 
ein  man  nach  Gottes  willen, 
Hat  angenummen  Gottes  leer, 
darumb  seyn  wort  erfiillet: 

Ausz  seinem  stamm  Got  globet  an, 
wolt  er  geboren  werden, 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan 
jm  himel  vnd  auff  erden. 

Jesus  Christus,  Marie  son, 
vom  heyligen  geyst  empfangen, 
Was  all  Propheten  gsaget  hon 
ist  als  an  jm  ergangen: 

Das  hat  Got  als  durch  jn  gethan, 
vnd  spricht  "  den  solt  jr  horen!  " 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan, 
den  sol  wir  loben  vnd  ehren. 

Nun  hort,  nun  hort  vnd  mercket  mit  fleysz 
was  vns  fiirter  beschreiben 
Im  Testament  auff  newe  weisz, 
darinn  sie  thiin  verleiben, 

Was  vormals  ye  gesaget  ward 
von  Christo  vnserm  herren: 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan 
vnd  wirt  sich  allzeyt  meren. 


A  Forgotten  Hymn  315 

And  Lot,  devout,  God-fearing  man, 

Two  angels  came  to  find  him, 
And  lead  him  out  from  Sodom  safe, 

Nor  should  he  look  behind  him. 
God's  fiery  flood  therein  withstood 

No  living  thing  whatever; 
All  men,  like  Lot,  must  pay  their  scot, 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 

O  David,  David,  king  and  lord, 

A  man  of  God's  own  choosing, 
God's  truth  he  hid  within  his  heart 

Beyond  all  fear  of  losing. 
From  David's  seed  Christ  should  proceed, 

He  swore  who  changeth  never; 
In  heaven  and  on  earth  the  same 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 

Jesus  the  Christ,  of  Mary  born 

And  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
What  all  the  prophets  promised 

We  shall  in  him  inherit. 
"  Hear  him,"  the  call  of  God  to  all. 

To  save  us  his  endeavour; 
To  him  all  praise  and  honour  raise — 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 

Now  hear,  now  hear,  and  mark  with  care 

What  else  for  us  is  written, 
And  learn  from  his  new  Covenant 

What  more  to  do  we  're  bidden. 
And  what  of  old  has  been  foretold 

Of  Christ  our  Lord  and  Saviour; 
To  latest  hour,  in  vaster  power, 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 


3i6  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

Mattheus  Leui  Euangelist, 
ein  man  vom  ZoU  beriiffen, 
Der  erste  Cantzler  worden  ist, 
lernet  allein  zu  suchen 

Disen  Heilandt,  der  selber  spricht 
"  kumpt,  jr  betriibten  alle!  " 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan 
mit  pracht  vnd  grossem  schalle. 

Marcus,  Marcus  der  ander  ist, 
der  auch  reichlich  auszpreytet 
Mirackel  grosz  von  disem  Christ, 
damit  er  hat  geleytet 

Zum  glauben  bracht,  das  der  allein 
gerecht  vnd  frumm  thiit  machen, 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan, 
sie  waynen  oder  lachen. 

Lucas  auch  in  die  ordnung  tritt, 
grosz  wunderthatt  vns  zeyget, 
Zu  schreiben  ausz  ist  er  der  drit, 
wie  hoch  vns  Gott  sey  geneyget, 

Das  er  vns  schickt  von  hymel  herab 
seyn  Son  freundtlich  lest  locken, 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan, 
wer  das  nicht  glaubt,  miisz  pocken. 

Johannes,  Johannes,  der  Jiingling  schon, 
ist  auch  der  vierdte  worden, 
Das  Wort  er  fiirt  in  gleichem  thon, 
lert  vns  den  Christen  orden 

Mit  glaub  vnd  lieb  beweysen  recht 
vnd  sunst  anders  nicht  suchen, 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan, 
es  hilfft  kcin  scharrn  noch  ijuchen. 


A  P'orgotten  Hymn  317 

Matthew,  the  first  evangelist, 

From  Roman  service  taken, 
Has  now  become  chief  counsellor 

And  has  his  sins  forsaken; 
Hears  Jesus  call,  who  says  to  all, 

"  Follow  with  best  endeavour." 
In  ample  fame,  always  the  same, 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 

And  Mark,  yes,  Mark,  the  second  is, 

And  richly  he  has  taught  us 
The  knowledge  of  that  mighty  power 

Wherewith  our  Lord  has  brought  us 
To  faith  in  God,  to  which  is  owed 

All  goodness  whatsoever; 
For  all  men's  tears,  for  all  men's  jeers, 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 

Luke  also  follows  in  the  train 

And  tells  the  gospel  story: 
The  wondrous  works  of  Christ,  and  how 

From  heaven  the  God  of  glory 
To  men  undone  has  sent  his  Son 

That  men  might  perish  never; 
Believe  we  must,  or  bite  the  dust, 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 

And  John,  the  fourth  evangelist, 

A  youth  of  wondrous  beauty, 
Reveals  to  us  the  Word  divine 

And  teaches  us  our  duty. 
With  faith  and  love  your  calling  prove 

And  seek  no  other  lever; 
It  gives  no  aid  to  hoe  or  spade. 

But  God's  word  stands  for  ever. 


3i8  Balthasar  Hubmaier 

Saulus,  Paulus,  erweltes  fasz, 
ist  erst  der  rechte  keren, 
Der  vns  erregt  den  neid  vnd  hasz, 
darnon  so  zornig  werden 

Die  welt  vnd  jr  grosz  hoffgesind, 
die  also  toben  vnd  wiiten: 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan, 
vor  den  wirdt  ers  behiiten. 

O  Paul,  O  Paul,  was  richstu  an 
mit  deinem  theiiren  schreiben? 
Menschlich  vernunfft  hoch  sichtest  an, 
wilt  ire  werck  vertreiben, 

Allein  den  glauben  richten  auff, 
der  sols  alles  auszrichten, 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan, 
wie  wol  sie  es  vernichten. 

Petrus,  Judas  vnd  Jacobus 
folgen  auch  diser  lere, 
Das  sie  vns  lernen  rew  vnd  biisz 
durch  Christum  vnsern  Herren, 

Auff  den  sie  all  vns  weysen  thon: 
on  jn  wirt  nit  geholffen! 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan 
vor  Lowen,  Beren  vnd  Wolffen. 

Ach  mensch,  ach  mensch,  nu  Schick  dich  drein 
lasz  deinen  dunckel  faren 
Und  glaub  der  schrifft  vnd  worten  sein, 
damit  du  mogst  bewaren 

Dein  gwissen  vnd  auch  all  dein  thon 
trewlich  darauff  verlassen; 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan, 
zeygt  vns  den  weg  vnd  strassen. 


A  Forgotten  Hymn  319 

And  Saul,  God's  chosen  vessel  he, 

His  early  sin  repented: 
He  stormed  and  strove  against  the  saints 

As  if  he  were  demented. 
In  vain  the  age  'gainst  us  shall  rage, 

Our  souls  from  Christ  to  sever; 
In  time  of  ill  our  stronghold  still, 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 

O  Paul,  O  Paul,  what  fruit  of  all 

Thy  writings  in  their  season! 
The  truth  thou  hast  declared  shall  stand 

Against  all  human  reason. 
Sin  is  o'erthrown  by  faith  alone. 

And,  though  the  great  and  clever 
Were  all  employed  to  make  it  void, 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 

And  Peter,  Jude,  and  James,  all  three 

Do  follow  in  this  teaching; 
Repentance  and  confession  they 

Through  Christ  our  Lord  are  preaching, 
In  him  men  must  put  all  their  trust, 

Or  they  shall  see  God  never; 
The  wolf  may  tear,  the  lion,  bear, — 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 

Ah,  man,  blind  man,  now  hear  the  word, 

Make  sure  your  state  and  calling; 
Believe  the  Scripture  is  the  power 

By  which  we  're  kept  from  falling. 
Your  valued  lore  at  once  give  o'er. 

Renounce  your  vain  endeavour; 
This  shows  the  way,  no  longer  stray, 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 


320  Balthasar  Hiibmaier 

O  Jhesu  Christ,  du  Gottes  son, 
las  vns  nit  von  dir  weychen! 
Das  vns  nit  werd  ein  boser  Ion, 
so  menschen  leer  her  streychen 

Mit  schoner  gestalt  vnd  wuterichs  gwalt 
zu  tilgen  deynen  namen; 
Dann  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan 
von  nun  vnd  ewig,  Amen. 

Lobt  Gott,  lobt  Gott  in  eynigkeyt, 
jr  Christen  all  gemeyne! 
Das  er  seyn  wort  hatt  auszgepreyt, 
das  ist  seyn  werck  alleyne. 

Keins  menschen  wan  nicht  helffen  kan, 
wie  hoch  er  sey  mit  namen, 
Dan  Gottes  wort  bleybt  ewig  stan, 
Nun  singen  wir  frohlich,  Amen! 


A  Forgotten  Hymn  321 

O  Jesus  Christ,  thou  Son  of  God, 

Let  us  not  lack  thy  favour, 
For  what  shall  be  our  just  reward 

If  the  salt  shall  lose  its  savour? 
With  angry  flame  to  efface  thy  name 

In  vain  shall  men  endeavour; 
Not  for  a  day,  the  same  for  aye, 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 

Praise  God,  praise  God  in  unity. 

Ye  Christian  people  sweetly. 
That  he  his  word  has  spread  abroad — 

His  word,  his  work  completely. 
No  human  hand  can  him  withstand, 

No  name  how  high  soever; 
And  sing  we  then  our  glad  Amen! 

God's  word  stands  sure  for  ever. 


\ 


INDEX 


Anabaptists,  why  unpopu- 
lar, I ;  chiliastic  ideas 
among,  2,  161,  165  sq.; 
revolutionary  views  of 
some,  3,  162,  164;  Lu- 
ther's treatment  of,  6; 
slanders  against,  7,  21; 
Cornelius  on,  7 ;  Beck's 
book  about,  8;  Keller's  re- 
searches on,  9;  connection 
with  older  sects,  9-13;  re- 
lation to  Reformation,  13; 
character  of,  14;  their 
ideal  of  the  church,  1 5 ;  re- 
pudiate name  "Anabap- 
tist," 16,  204;  mysticism 
among,  14,  17;  real  offence 
of,  19;  their  vindication, 
20;  fate  of  their  leaders, 
21;  origin  in  Zurich,  92, 
102  ;  Htibniaier  joins  them, 
in;  charged  with  schism 
by  Zwingli,  118;  why 
deserving  of  punishment, 
119;  Denck  unites  with 
them,  142;  act  of  baptism 
among,  142-145;  lords  of 
Lichtenstein  join  them, 
151;  great  progress  of,  at 
Nikolsburg,  152  sq.;  Sebas- 
tian Franck  on,  159;  the 
socialistic  wing,  162;  doc- 
trine of  non-resistance 
among,  159,  160;  schism  in 
Nikolsburg  among,  167 
sq.;  charged  with  sedition. 


171;  how  far  socialists,  172, 
176,  215,  250  sq.;  Unitar- 
ians among,  184;  ritual  of 
210;  use  of  the  ban,  212; 
singing  of  hymns,  214;  on 
salvation  of  infants,  216; 
banished  from  Moravia, 
257;  their  protest,  259- 
264;  numbers  in  Nikols- 
burg, 267;  their  martyrs, 
269;  emigrate  to  Russia 
and  United  States,  270 

Aberli,  Henry,  Anabaptist 
preacher,  124 

Affusion,  practised  by  Hiib- 
maier,  112,  142;  by  Grebel, 
143;    by   the   Mennonites, 

I4S 

Albertus  Magnus,  47 

Albigenses,  10 

Anselm,  theory  of  satisfac- 
tion, 198 

Anthropology,  Htibmaier's 
doctrine  of,  190-198 

Antinomianism,  189 

Apostles'  Creed,  Hubmaier's 
paraphrase  of,  178 

Argula  von  Stauff,  78,  183 

Arkleb,  lord  of  Boskowitz, 
152,  275 

Articles,  Twelve,  of  the  peas- 
ants, 96,  241 

Atonement,  Hiibmaier's  doc- 
trine of,  198 

Augsburg,  Latin  school  at, 
26;  the  Fuggerei,  39; 
Reichstag  of  15 18,  41; 
Hiibmaier  visits,  142 ;  Ana- 


323. 


3^ 


Index 


Augsburg — Continued. 

baptists  immerse  there, 
144;  Hans  Hut  at,  160; 
Jacob  Widemann,  163; 
death  of  Hut  at,  169 

Augustinianism,  Luther's, 
193,  196 

Auspitz,  Anabaptist  colony, 
250 

Austerlitz,  Anabaptist  col- 
ony, 249,  251 

Austria, difficulty  with Walds- 
hut,74-79 ;  captures  Walds- 
hut,  122-123;  determined 
to  kill  Hubmaier,  238 


B 


Ban,  among  Anabaptists, 
212;  reckless  use  of,  255 

Baptism,  act  of,  among  Ana- 
baptists, 142-145;  prac- 
tice of  Hiibmaicr,  112,  142 

Baptism  of  infants,  deemed 
unscriptural,  10,  16,  102; 
Swiss  reformers  uncertain 
about,  99,  104;  questioned 
by  Miinzcr,  107;  attacked 
by  Hubmaier,  99,  114- 
122;  defended  by  Zwingli, 
113,  118,  135 

Baptism  of  believers,  10,  102; 
Hiibmaier's  doctrine  of, 
202  sq.;  remission  of  sins 
in,  205.  See  Hubmaier, 
writings  of 

Basel,  liiibmaier's  visit  to, 
54;  approves  policy  of 
SchaflFhausen,  84 

Beck,  Dr.  Josef,  and  his  book, 
8 

Blaurock,  George,  Swiss  Ana- 
baptist, 143 

Bogomils,  10 

Brunnstcin,  John  of,  ii;i 

BuUinger,  Ptenry,  Swiss  re- 
former   and    historian,    on 


the  Anabaptists,  105,  107; 

opinion  of  Hubmaier,   245 
Burgher  class,  rise  of,  5 
Burian,  lord  of  Konitz,  152 


Calvin,  doctrines  of  grace, 
186 

Campbell,  Alexander,  doc- 
trine of  remission  of  sins, 
205 

Capito,  Swiss  reformer,  let- 
ters to  Zwingli,  22;  Zwing- 
li's  letters  to,  125;  bums 
Hatzer's  book,  184 

Chiliasm  among  Anabap- 
tists, 2;  at  Nikolsburg,  160, 
161,  165;  Hubmaier  op- 
poses, 164;  William  Mil- 
ler's, 165 

Christianity,  essential  nature 
of,  14 

Church  (a  single  congrega- 
tion), nature  of,  10;  Petro- 
brusian  idea  of,  11;  Wal- 
densian,  ib.;  Anabaptist, 
1 5  ;  ideas  of  Zurich  radicals, 
loi,  103;  Hiibmaier's  doc- 
trine of,  206-208 

Church,  separation  from 
State,  15,  21;  character  of 
a  State,  20 

Columban,  47 

Community  of  goods,  among 
Anabaptists,  3 ;  Hiibmai- 
er's idea  of,  164;  See 
Socialism 

Constance,  Hiibmaier  ac- 
cused to  bishop  of,  80;  his 
visit  to  the  city,  142 

Controversy,  Hiibmaier's 
love  of,  32;  between  Hub- 
maier and  Zwingli,  119  sq.; 
between  Hiibmaier  and 
CEcolampadius,  120-122 

CornoUus,  of  Bonn,  and  his 
book,  7 


Index 


325 


Cranmer,    Archbishop,    com- 
pared to  Hiibmaier,  237 
Czechs  in  Moravia,  149 

D 

Denck,  John,  Anabaptist 
preacher,  won  to  Anabap- 
tisni  by  Hiibmaier,  142; 
baptizes  Hut,  159,  160; 
anti-Trinitarian  theories, 
184 

Dietrichstein,  Adam  von, 
lord  of  Nikolsburg,  266; 
persecutes  Anabaptists, 
267 

Dietrichstein,  Cardinal,  ob- 
tains decree  of  1623,  268 

Dubcansky,  Jan,  lord  of 
Zdnym,  152 


E 


Ecclesiology,  Hltbmaier's 
doctrine  of,  201-213 

Eck  (John  Mayer),  Dr.,  Hiib- 
maier's  junior,  27;  oration 
on  Hiibmaier,  28;  Hiib- 
maier's  eulogy  of,  29;  fame 
as  a  teacher,  3 1 ;  quarrel 
with  University  of  Frei- 
burg, ^;};  goes  to  Ingol- 
stadt,  ib.;  tomb  of,  35; 
remains  Hiibmaier's  friend 
50;  challenged  by  Hiib- 
maier to  disputation,  89- 

Effectual  calling,  199 
Election,   Hiibmaier  on,   186 

sq. 
Englehard,    Swiss    reformer, 

125 

Erasmus,  eminent  reformer, 
22;  visit  of  Hiibmaier  to, 
54;  compared  to  Hiib- 
maier, 155,  156 

Eschatology,  Hiibmaier's 
treatment  of,  216 


Exegesis,  Hiibmaier's 
method  of,  175,  182  sq.; 
puerile,  191 


Faber  (Heigelin)  John,  Ro- 
man Catholic  theologian , 
testifies  Hiibmaier  was  no 
iconoclast,  73;  celebrates 
mass  in  Waldshut,  123; 
confirms  torture  of  Hiiia- 
maier  at  Ziirich,  137;  in- 
terview with  Hubmaier  at 
Greisenstein,  226-230;  wit- 
ness to  Hiibmaier's  emi- 
nence, 246 

Feet-washing  practised  at 
Waldshut,  112 

Ferdinand,  Archduke  of  Aus- 
tria (Emperor,  1556-1564), 
summons  Waldshut,  74; 
demands  expulsion  of  Hiib- 
maier, 7  5  ;  becomes  his  im- 
placable enemy,  76;  second 
charge  against  Waldshut, 
79;  demands  Hiibmaier 
from  Schaffhausen  ,82;  his 
treachery,  95;  answer  of 
Waldshut  to,  97;  final 
terms  to  Waldshut,  122; 
demands  Hiibmaier  from 
Ziirich,  128;  chosen  King 
of  Bohemia,  149;  elected 
Margrave  of  Moravia,  219; 
edict  of  1527,  220;  deter- 
:nined  on  Hiibmaier's 
death,  238;  persecutes  Mo- 
ravian Anabaptists,  247; 
edict  of  1535,  257;  death 
of,  264 

Feudalism,  decay  of,  3 ;  sig- 
nificance of,  4 

Franck,  Sebastian  (evangeli- 
cal reformer,  Anabaptist, 
author,  printer),  on  Ana- 
baptists, 159 


326 


Index 


Frankenhausen,  battle  of, 
i6o,  165 

Frederick  of  Silesia,  favour- 
able to  Anabaptists,  152 

Freiburg,  University  of,  27 
sq.,  67 

Freiburg  in  Switzerland,  54 

Friends,  17 

Froschauer.     Sec  Sorg 

Fuggers,  the,  of  Augsburg,  39 

Fiisslin,  Swiss  reformer  and 
historian,  and  the  Anabap- 
tists, 22;  account  of  Hub- 
maier-Zwingli  debate,  127 


Glaidt,  Oswald,  reformer  at 
Nikolsburg,  150 

Goschel,  Martin,  becomes  an 
Anabaptist,  150 

Grebel,  Conrad,  radical  lead- 
er at  Zurich,  65;  rebukes 
Miinzer,  107;  visits  Wald- 
shut,  113;  sprinkles  Blau- 
rock,  143;  immerses  Uli- 
man,  ib.;  baptizes  at  St. 
Gall,  133 

Greisen stein,  castle  of,  223 

Gynor;cus,  Peter,  Swiss  re- 
former, Zwingli's  letter  to, 
125  sq. 


H 


Hatzer,  Ludwig,  Anabaptist 
preacher,  slanderous 
charges  against,  21;  al- 
leged anti-Trinitarian  the- 
ories, 184 

Hofmeister,  Sebastian,  Swiss 
reformer,  present  at  Hiib- 
maier-Zwingli  debate,  125; 
on  baptism  of  infants,  127; 
debates    with     Hiibmaier, 

138 
"Householder"    among    Mo- 
ravian Anabaptists,  251 


Hiibmaier,  Bait hasar, Life  of : 
birth,  24;  parentage,  25; 
early  training,  26 ;  matricu- 
lates at  Freiburg,  27;  first 
residence  at  Schaflfhausen, 
29,  30;  takes  Master's  de- 
gree, 27,  32;  praised  by 
Eck,  28;  eulogizes  Eck,  ib.; 
love  of  controversy,  32; 
follows  Eck  to  Ingolstadt, 
^^•,  Doctor  in  Theology, 
34;  university  preacher, 
35;  vice-rector,  36;  chief 
preacher  at  Regensburg,  3  7 ; 
leads  anti-Jewish  move- 
ment, 38  sq.;  defends  cler- 
gy at  Augsburg,  4 1 ;  dis- 
creditable conduct,  43; 
chalpain  of  the  "beauteous 
Mary,"  44;  part  in  the  pil- 
grimages, 45;  troubles  with 
the  clergy,  47;  leaves  Re- 
gensburg, 49;  repute  there, 
50;  pastor  at  Waldshut, 
51;  studies  the  Scriptures, 
53;  visits  Switzerland,  54; 
reads  Luther's  tracts,  55; 
recalled  to  Regensburg, 
ib.;  returns  to  Waldshut, 
56;  friend  of  Swiss  reform- 
ers, 57;  takes  part  in 
second  Zurich  Disputa- 
tion, 57-65;  speech  on 
supremacy  of  Scriptures, 
58  sq.;  against  images,  60 
sq.;  against  the  mass,  63 
sq.;  spelling  of  his  name, 
66  sq.;  publishes  eighteen 
theses,  60-71;  institutes 
reforms  in  Waldshut,  72; 
marries  Elizabeth  Hiig- 
line,  73;  opposition  of 
clergy,  74;  his  expulsion 
demanded,  75;  invited  to 
Regensburg  and  response, 
77,  78;  accused  of  Luther- 
anism,  79;  refuses  to  ap- 
pear    at     Constance,     80; 


Index 


327 


Htibmaier — Continued. 

leaves  Waldshut,  81;  sec- 
ond residence  at  Schaff- 
hausen,  82-92;  appeals  to 
council,  83 ;  writes  Here- 
tics and  Those  Who  Burn 
Them  84-88;  challenges 
Eck  to  disputation,  89-91 ; 
returns  to  Waldshut,  93; 
relations  to  peasants'  war, 
96;  not  author  of  Twelve 
Articles,  ib.;  zeal  for  pure 
gospel,  97,  98;  relations  to 
Swiss  reformers,  99;  not 
taught  by  Miinzer,  105 ; 
begins  to  oppose  infant 
baptism,  108;  letter  to 
Q^colampadius,  ib.;  pub- 
lishes Open  Appeal,  109; 
becomes  champion  of  radi- 
cals, no;  converted  to 
Anabaptism,  in;  bap- 
tizes large  numbers  in 
Waldshut ,  112;  writes  his 
Christian  Baptism  of  Be- 
lievers, 114-1 1 7  ;  Zwingli's 
reply,  118;  Dialogues  on 
infant  baptism,  1 19-122; 
goes  to  Zurich,  124;  his 
arrest,  125;  debate  with 
Zwingli,  125-128;  his  pub- 
lic "recantation,"  129; 
cruel  imprisonment  and 
torture,  130,  137,  147; 
writes  his  Twelve  Articles, 
130-136;  his  written  re- 
cantation, 138-140;  goes 
to  Nikolsburg,  142;  kmdly 
received,  150;  great  pro- 
gress of  Anabaptists,  152; 
literary  activity,  154;  rank 
as  man  of  letters,  155-157; 
his  ethical  tone,  157,  173; 
controversies  at  Nikols- 
burg, 158;  opposes  Hut 
and  Widemann,  163,  232; 
true  communism,  164; 
publishes     tract     On     the 


Sword,  173,  177;  arrested 
and  sent  to  Vienna.  177., 
221;  unfair  attitude  to- 
wards Zwingli,  210;  pre- 
liminary examination,  222 ; 
imprisonment  at  Greisen- 
stein,  223;  accusations 
against  him,  224,  225;  in- 
terview with  Faber,  226 
sq.;  how  far  he  yielded, 
228-230,  236;  his  Rechen- 
schaft,  230-235;  conduct 
like  Cranmer's,  or  Savon- 
arola's, 237;  makes  a 
supplementary  statement, 
239;  final  process  at  Vi- 
enna, 240;  record  of  con- 
demnation, 240—242;  his 
execution  described  by  an 
eyewitness,  242-244;  char- 
acter and  repute,  23,  217, 
245;  writings  put  on  the 
Index,  247;  life  not  a  fail- 
ure, 271. 
Hiibmaier,  Writings  of  (those 
marked*  have  been  quoted 
from  freely;  those  marked 
**  are  given  in  full,  or  sub- 
stantially so) : 
*  Appeal   to    Schaffhausen 

Council  {op.  2),  82 
Brotherly    Discipline    {op. 

21),  190,  205 
^Christian  Baptism  of  Be- 
lievers {op.  5),   114-117, 

143 

Conversation  of  Balthazar 
Htibmaier  {op.  10),  iSo 

Dialogue  between  Baltha- 
zar Hiibmaier  and  Mas- 
ter Ulrich  Zwingli  {op. 
10),  119 

Earnest  Plea  {op.  2),  82 

**Eighteen  Theses  {op.  i), 
69-71 

*Form  for  Baptizing  {op. 
19),  152,  202,  204, 
3U 


128 


Index 


Hiibmaier — Continued. 

Form  of   the   Supper    {op. 

20),  152,  210 
*Frcedom  of  the  Will  {op. 

23).  171,  178,   183,  186- 

188,  i8q,  193-197,  200 
Freedom  of  the  Will — Sec- 
ond Book  {op.  24),  152, 

196,  197 
**  Fundamental        Articles 

{op.  4),  89-91 
Ground    and    Reason    {op. 

16),  189,  203,  205,  206 
**Heretics  and  Those  Who 

Burn  Them  {op.  3),  84- 

88 
*0n   Infant    Baptism    {op. 

17),  120—122 
**0n  the  Sword   {op.   25), 

152, 170-176,  273-310 
Reason    Why    Every    Man 

should    Receive    Baptism 

{op.  16),  151 
**Rechenschaft      {op.     26), 

230-235 
*  Short    Apology    {op.    13), 
49,  97,  98,  141,  204,  214 
*Table    of    Christian    Doc- 
trine (Catechism,  op.  11), 
178,    183,    186-188,    189, 
193—197,  200 
**Twelve  Articles  of  Chris- 
tian Belief  {op.  18),  130- 
136,  178,  185 
**Zurich  Recantation,  138 

-140 
**Letter     to     Regensburg 

Council,  77-79 
**Letter     to     (Ecolampa- 
dius,  108 
Hiibmaier,  Teachings  of: 
Anabaptism,   204;  anthro- 
pology,    190-198;    antino- 
mianism,   189;  atonement, 
198;  T)an,    212-214;     bap- 
tism,    16,     202-205,     228; 
church,     206-208;     "close 
communion,"     211;    com- 


munism, 163;  ccclesiology, 
202-213;  election,  186;  ef- 
fectual calling,  199;  escha- 
tology,  216;  exegesis,  182 
517.,  228,  298;  fathers,  au- 
thority of,  180;  freedom  of 
conscience,  217;  hymns, 
214;  images,  60-62;  impu- 
tation, 198;  infants,  bap- 
tism of,  1 14  sq. ;  infants,  sal- 
vation of,  216;  Lord's  sup- 
per, 208-2 1 1 ;  mass,  63-65 ; 
Scriptures,  180  sq.;  sin, 
182,  192,  231;  soteriology, 
198-201;  theology,  184- 
190;  will,  193-195,  231 

Hiigline,  Elizabeth,  married 
to  Hiibmaier,  73;  impris- 
oned at  Zurich,  129; 
drowned  at  Vienna,  244 

Hus,  John,  Bohemian  reform- 
er, at  Constance,  53;  influ- 
ence in  Moravia,  148 

Hut,  Hans,  Anabaptist 
preacher,  early  history, 
159 ;  doctrine  of  the  Sword, 
160,  162;  appears  at  Xik- 
olsburg,  160;  acquaintance 
with  Widemann ,  1 63  ;  com- 
pared to  William  Miller, 
165;  specimen  of  his 
preaching,  166;  impris- 
oned by  Lichtensteins,  16S; 
flight  to  Augsburg  and 
death,  169 

Huter,  Jacob,  Anabaptist 
preacher,  organizer  of  Mo- 
ravian communities,  250; 
death  in  Tyrol,  256;  his 
protest  to  the  Moravian 
nobles,  259  sq. 


I 


Immersion,  by  Grebel,  143; 
at  Augsburg,  144;  in  Po- 
land, ib.;  at  Rhynsburg, 
145 


Index 


329 


Images,  Zwingli's  attitude 
towards,  58;  Hubmaier's 
speech  against,  60  sq.;  ban- 
ished from  Waldshut,  73 

Immelen,  Jacob,  Swiss  re- 
former, "Dialogue"  with 
Hiibmaier,  120-122 

Imputation  of  Adam's  sin, 
198 

Infant  baptism.  See  Bap- 
tism of  infants,  and  Hiib- 
maier,  Teachings  of. 

Infants,  salvation  of,  216 

Ingolstadt,  University  of,  27; 
history,  ^;i  ;  old  building  of, 
34;  certifies  to  Hubmaier's 
character,  49 

Ingolstadt,  Church  of  the 
Virgin,  35 


Jews,  expulsion  from  Regens- 
burg,  38-44 

John,  Count  Palatine,  friend 
of  Hiibmaier,  37,  41,  49,  51 

Justification,  Hubmaier's  di- 
vergence from  Luther  on, 
201 

K 

Keller,  Dr.  Ludwig,  State 
Archivist  at  Miinster,  on 
the  Anabaptists,  9 

Kessler,  Swiss  reformer  and 
historian,     on     Hiibmaier, 

245 
Konigsfeld,  Convent  of,  51 


Leo  Juda,  Swiss  reformer,  at 
Hiibmaier-Zwingli  debate, 
125  ;  on  baptism  of  infants, 
127;  debates  with  Hiib- 
maier, 138 


Liberty,  Christian,  Hiibmaier 
on,  217;  case  of  Hans  Hut, 
168 

Lichtenstein,  Leonard,  lord, 
of  Nikolsburg,  becomes 
Anabaptist,  151;  summons 
Anabaptists  to  conference, 
167  ;  expels  the  Schwertler, 
249;  surrenders  Hiibmaier, 
221,  224,  225;  not  a  perse- 
cutor, 265;  fortunes  of  his 
house,  266 

Lichtenstein,  John,  becomes 
Anabaptist,  151 

Lichtenstein,  Prince,  Cath- 
olic and  persecutor,  268 

Louis  II.,  King  of  Bohemia, 
defeat  at  Mohacs,  149 

Lord's  supper,  Hiibmaier's 
doctrine  of,  208—211.  See 
Mass 

Luther,  Martin,  his  early  de- 
mands for  freedom,  6;  atti- 
tude towards  Anabaptists, 
7;  his  Theses,  50;  Hiib- 
maier's junior,  27;  tracts, 
55;  his  marriage,  73;  Hiib- 
maier reckoned  his  follow- 
er, 79;  on  supremacy  of 
Scripture,  92;  his  Wider 
Hans  Wtirst,  158;  his  Ad- 
dress to  the  Christian  A'O- 
bility,  157;  Compared  to 
Hiibmaier,  153-157;  pam- 
phlets against  the  peasants 
174;  his  doctrine  of  the 
will,  193,  196 

Lutherans  in  Nikolsburg,  148 

M 

Manichsean  element  in  medi- 
aeval sects,  10 

Mantz,  Felix,  Anabaptist 
preacher,  106,  143 

Mass,  Zwingli's  ideas  on,  62 ; 
Hubmaier's  speech  against 
63  sq.;  his  final  rejection  of, 
228,  235 


330 


Index 


Maximilian  II  (Emperor, 
1 564-1 576),  toleration  of 
Anabaptists,  264 

Megandcr,     Swiss     reformer, 

125 

Melanehthon,  compared  to 
Htibmaier,  155 

Mennonites,  practice  of  affu- 
sion, 145 

Miller,  William,  and  Hans 
Hut,  165 

Mohacs,  battle  of,  149 

Montanists,  17 

Moravia,  temporary  religious 
freedom  in,  146;  influence 
of  Hus  there,  148;  condi- 
tion of  people,  149;  perse- 
cution begins,  220;  Diet 
banishes  Anabaptists,  257; 
Diet  permits  bigamy,  270 

Moravians  (Unitas  Fratrum), 
survival  of,  12 

MuUer,  Hans,  insurgent  lead- 
er, 95 

Miinzer,  Thomas,  leader  of 
peasants,  97;  not  Hiib- 
maier's  teacher,  105;  re- 
buked by  Grebel,  106;  not 
an  Anabaptist,  107;  rela- 
tion to  Hans  Hut,  160,  162 

Miihlhausen  and  Thomas 
Miinzer,  160,  162;  and 
peasants'  rebellion,  106 

Myconius,  Swiss  reformer, 
debates  with  Hiibmaier, 
138 

N 

Nikolsburg,  Hiibmaier  goes 
to,  142;  Anabaptists  there 
before  Hiibmaier,  146; 
character  of  town,  147; 
the  evangelicals,  150;  the 
Lichtensteins,  151;  con- 
troversies at,  158  sq.;  Hut 
appears  in,  161;  trouble 
among  Anabaptists  of,  167, 


215;      troubles      renewed, 
248;    the    Schwertler     ex- 
pelled,   249;  falls  to  Diet- 
richstein  family,  266 
Nobles,  decline  in  power  of, 

3 
Non-resistance,      Anabaptist 

doctrine  of,  3,  159,  160,162. 

Sec   Hiibmaier's  tract    On 

the  Sword,  Appendix. 
Niimberg,  Hut  at,  159 


O 


Oaths,  Anabaptist  repudia- 
tion of,  3 

CEcolampadius,  Swiss  reform- 
er, holds  supremacy  of 
Scriptures,  92;  friend  of 
Hiibmaier,  99;  "Dialogue" 
with  Hiibmaier,  120-122; 
on  baptism  of  infants,  127 ; 
letter  about  Hiibmaier, 
142 


Parousia,  Anabaptist  ideas 
of,  2 

Paulicians,  10 

Peasants,  oppression  of,  5 ; 
their  uprising,  6 ;  effect  at 
Waldshut,  95;  Twelve  Ar- 
ticles of,  96,  241;  Luther's 
attitude  towards,  173  sq.; 
Hiibmaier's  relation  to, 
222 

Peacock  Hall,  31 

Persecution,  of  Anabaptists 
generally,  19,  20;  of  Jews 
at  Regensburg,  38-44;  of 
Anabaptists  at  Ziirich,  124, 
129,  141,  144;  of  Ana- 
baptists in   Moravia,    220, 

257 
Peter  the  Venerable,  agamst 
the  Petrobrusians,  1 1 


Index 


331 


Petrobrusians,  ideas  of  the 
church,  11;  connection 
with  Anabaptists,  13 

Poland,  immersion  among 
Anabaptists  of,  144 

R 

Radicals.     See  Zurich 

Reformation,  and  social 
changes,  3 ;  reformers  be- 
fore the,  13;  relation  of 
Anabaptists  to,  ib.;  in 
Switzerland,  54;  in  Mo- 
ravia, 148 

Regensburg,  importance  of 
the  city,  36;  anti-Jewish 
agitation  in,  38  sq.;  pil- 
grimages to,  45  ;  the  Neup- 
farrkirche,  46 ;  Albertus 
Magnus  and  his  monastery, 
47;  council  testifies  to 
Hiibmaier's  character,  49; 
makes  him  parting  gift, 
50;  recalls  Hiibmaier,  55; 
second  parting  gift,  56; 
invites  Hubmaier  to  visit, 
77,  78;  later  visit  of  Hiib- 
maier to,  142 

Rhynsburg,     immersion     in, 

Ritual  among  Anabaptists, 
210 

Roublin,  William,  Anabap- 
tist preacher,  converts 
Hiibmaier  to  Anabaptism, 


St.    Emeran,    monastery     at 

Regensburg,  47 
St.  Gall,  Hiibmaier's  visit  to, 

57 

Savonarola  compared  to  Hiib- 
maier, 237 

Schaflfhausen,  Hiibmaier's 
first  residence  at,  67;  sec- 


ond residence  there,  81  sq.; 
refuses  to  surrender  Hub- 
maier, 82 ;  Hiibmaier  ap- 
peals to  council  of,  82,  83 

Scriptures,  do  not  warrant 
infant  baptism,  10,  16,  57; 
supremacy  of,  16,  58,  66, 
89  sq.,  180;  supremacy  ac- 
knowledged by  Swiss  re- 
formers, 92 ;  inspiration  of, 
16;  interpretation  of,  17, 
183  {see  also  Exegesis) 

Schwertler,  at  Nikolsburg, 
248;  expelled,  249 

Socialism,  among  Anabap- 
tists, 172,  176,  215,  250  sq. 
See  also  Community  of 
Goods 

Sorg,  Simprecht  (Frowschau- 
er),    Hiibmaier's     printer, 

153 

Soteriology,  Hiibmaier's  doc- 
trine of,  198-201 

South  Dakota,  and  colonies 
of  Moravian  Anabaptists, 
270 

Spitalmaier,  Hans,  reformer 
at  NikolslDurg,  150 

Stabler  at  Nikolsburg,  249 

Sword,  Hut's  doctrine  of, 
160,  162;  Hiibmaier's  doc- 
trine summarised,  170- 
176;  his  treatise  on,  273- 
310 

T 

Taxes,  Anabaptist  opposi- 
tion to,  3,  162 

Theology,  or  doctrine  of  God, 
184—190 

Theses,  Luther's,  50;  Hiib- 
maier's eighteen,  69-71; 
his  twenty-six,  89-91 

Thomas,  Augustinian  "read- 
er," 120 

Thirty  Years'  War,  268 

Trichotomy,  taught  by  Hiib- 
maier, 191 


332 


Index 


Turks,  threatened  invasions 
of,  148,  i66,  248 

U 

Uliman,  Wolfgang,  Swiss  An- 
abaptist, 143 

Unitarians  among  Anabap- 
tists, 184 

Unitas  Fratrum,  early  his- 
tory, 148 

V 

Vadianus  (Watt),  Swiss  re- 
former, friend  of  Hiib- 
maier,  57;  his  opinion  of 
Hiibmaier,  245 

W 

Waldshut,town  of,  described, 
5 1 ;  character  of  people,  52 ; 
Hiibmaier' s  first  pastor- 
ate, 51-54;  second  pastor- 
ate, 57;  reforms  of  1524, 
72;  opposition  of  clergy, 
74;  town  summoned  by 
Ferdinand,  74  sq.;  second 
summons,  7g;  Hiibmaier 
leaves,  81;  last  negotia- 
tions with  Ferdinand,  94 
sq  ;  has  sympathy  of  Zii- 
rich,  95;  hundreds  become 
Anabaptists,  112;  visited 
by  Grebel,  113;  captured 
by  Austrians,  122,  123; 
troubles  at, charged  against 
Hiibmaier,  222,   224 

Waldenses,  idea  of  church, 
11;  extent  of,  12;  connec- 
tion with  Anabaptists,  13 

Water-tower  at  Ziirich,  Ana- 
baptist prison,  i2q 

Weissenburger,  Wolfgang, 
Swiss  reformer,  120  sq. 

Widemann,    Jacob,    Anabap- 


tist preacher,  his  commun- 
istic ideas,  162  ;  joins  forces 
with  Hut,  163;  continued 
activity  at  Nikolsburg, 
150,  176;  in  the  socialistic 
communities,  251 

Will,  Luther's  doctrine  of, 
193,  196;  Hiibmaier's  doc- 
trine of,  193-195 

Wyeland,  William,  of  Re- 
gensburg,  kindness  to  Hiib- 
maier, 49 


Ziirich,  city  of,  Hiibmaier's 
visit  to,  57;  second  dispu- 
tation at,  57-65  ;  reform  in, 
66;  conduct  of  Hiibmaier 
at,  74,  75;  first  disputa- 
tion at,  92  ;  people  divided, 
100;  they  study  the  Scrip- 
tures, 105 

Ziirich,  council  of,  decide  for 
Zwingli,  65;  adopt  severe 
measures  against  Anabap- 
tists, 124;  refuse  to  surren- 
der Hiibmaier,  128;  im- 
prison Anabaptists,  129; 
banish  Hiibmaier,  141; 
penalty  for  rebaptizing, 
144 

Ziirich,  radicals  of,  58,  65,  92  ; 
demands  on  Zwingli,  10  t. 
103;  Hiibmaier  becomes 
their  champion,  no;  their 
programme  rejected  by 
Zwingli,  103;  their  able 
leaders,  in 

Zwingli,  Huldreich,  refonner, 
22;  friend  of  Hiibmaier, 
57;  relations  to  Ziirich 
radicals,  58;  attitude  to- 
wards images,  ib.;  ideas 
about  the  mass,  62,  policy 
as  reformer,  66;  marriage 
of,  73;  influence  on  Hiib- 
maier,  74;  avows  supreme 


Index 


333 


Zwingli — Continued. 

authority  of  vScripturc,  92; 
his  perplexity  in  1524,  100; 
believes  radicals  imprac- 
ticable, 103;  his  exegesis, 
104;  doubts  infant  bap- 
tism, 127;  resents  course  of 
Hiibmaier,  iio;  publishes 
his  Baptism.  A  nahaptism 
and  Infant  Baptism,  113; 
attacked  by  Hubmaier, 
115,  117;  his  True,  Thor- 
ough Reply,  118;  his  state- 
ments about  Hubmaier, 
123;     debate     with     Hiib- 


maier, 125-128;  his  liber- 
erality,  128;  sermon  at 
Hiibmaier' s  "  recantation,' ' 
129;  confirms  torture  of 
Hiibmaier,  137;  procures 
Hiibmaier's  recantation, 
138;  intercedes  for  Hiib- 
maier, 142;  his  Refutation 
of  the  Tricks  of  Catabap- 
tists,  144;  compared  as 
leader  and  writer  to  Hiib- 
maier, 153,  157;  discredits 
Anabaptists,  164;  his  exe- 
gesis of  "This  is  my  body," 
208 


Heroes  of  the  Reformation 


EDITED    BY 


SAMUEL  MACAULEY  JACKSON, 

Professor  of  Church  History,  New  York  University. 


FULLY   ILLUSTRATED 

A  Series  of  biographies  of  the  leaders  in  the  Protes- 
tant Reformation. 

The  literary  skill  and  the  standing  as  scholars  of  the 
writers  who  have  agreed  to  prepare  these  biographies 
will,  it  is  believed,  ensure  for  them  a  wide  acceptance  on 
the  part  not  only  of  special  students  of  the  period  but  of 
the  general  reader.  Full  use  will  be  made  in  them  of  the 
correspondence  of  their  several  subjects  and  of  any  other 
autobiographical  material  that  may  be  available.  The 
general  reader  will  be  pleased  to  find  all  these  citations 
translated  into  English  and  the  scholar  to  find  them 
referred  specifically  to  their  source.  The  value  of  these 
volumes  will  be  furthered  by  comprehensive  literary  and 
historical  references  and  adequate  indexes. 

It  is,  of  course,  the  case  that  each  one  of  the  great 
teachers  whose  career  is  to  be  presented  in  this  series 
looked  at  religious  truth  and  at  the  problems  of  Chris- 
tianity from  a  somevvhat  different  point  of  view.  On  this 
ground  an  important  feature  in  each  volume  of  the  series 
will  be  a  precise  and  comprehensive  statement,  given  as 
nearly  as  practicable  in  the  language  of  the  original 
writer,  of  the  essential  points  in  his  theology. 

It  is  planned  that  the  narratives  shall  be  not  mere 
eulogies,  but  critical  biographies  ;  and  the  defects  of 
judgment  or  sins  of  omission  or  commission  on  the  parts 
of  the  subjects  will  not  be  passed  by  or  extenuated.  On 
the  other  hand  they  will  do  full  justice  to  the  nobility  of 
character  and  to  the  distinctive  contribution  to  human 
progress  made  by  each  one  of  these  great  Protestant 
leaders  of  the  Reformation  period.  The  series  will  avoid 
the  partisanship  of  writers  like  Merle  d'Aubign^,  and,  in 
the  opposite  direction,  of  the  group  of  which  Johannes 
Janssen  may  be  taken  as  a  type. 


HEROES  OF  THE  REFORMATION 


I.— MARTIN  LUTHER  (1483-1546).     The  Hero  ..f  the  Ref 

ormation.      By  Henry  Eyster  Jacobs,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

With  73  Ilhistrations.      12" $1.50 

"  The  initial  voluni'e  of  the  Heroes  of  the  Reformation  Series  is  a  worthy  in- 
auguration of  what  cannot  but  prove  an  interesting  and  instructive  contribution 
to  a  most  important  epoch  of  history.  .  .  .  Professor  Jacobs  is  an  exception- 
ally sympathetic  and  competent  biographer.  .  .  .  'I'he  author  has  availed 
himself  of  all  the  latest  sources  of  information,  and  done  the  needful  work  of 
selection  and  condensation  with  e.\cellent  judgment  and  skill."  —  Christian 
Intelligencer. 

'11.  — PHILIP  MELANCHTHON  (1497-1560).  The  Prot- 
estant Preceptor  of  Germany.  l>y  James  William  Richard, 
D.D.     With  35  Illustrations.     12        ....         $1.50 

"  This  work  will  be  valued  by  the  general  reader  who  likes  a  well-told  biog- 
raphy, and  by  the  historian  v.  ho  is  looking  for  facts  and  not  opinions  about  facts, 
and  by  the  wise  teacher  of  the  young  who  desires  his  pupils  to  read  that  which 
will  at  once  instruct  and  inspire  them  with  respect  for  what  is  great  and  honor- 
able. For  these  purposes,  I  believe  no  other  work  on  Melanchthon  can  compare 
with  this  one." — Universalist  Leader. 

HI.  — DESIDERIUS  ERASMUS  (1467-1536).  The  Hu- 
manist in  the  Service  uf  the  Reformation.  Uy  Ephr.^IM 
Emerton,  Ph.D.     With  36  Ilhistrations.      12°  .  .         $1.50 

"  Professor  Emerton  h.is  done  a  thorough  and  skilful  piece  of  work.  .  .  . 
He  has  given  his  readers  a  graphic,  spirited,  well-balanced  and  trustworthy  study, 
which  contains  all  which  most  readers  care  to  know,  and  in  a  manner  which 
they  will  find  acceptable.  The  book  is  a  valuable  addition  to  the  series." — 
Congregationa  list. 

IV. —  THEODORE    BEZA    (1549-1605).       The   Counsellor    of 

the  French  Reformation.     By  Henry  Martyn  Baird,  Ph.D. 

With  24  Illustrations.       12° $1.50 

"No  one  could  so  well  present  the  life  of  Beza  in  its  true  relations  and  in  so 
pleasing  and  popukir  a  style  as  the  accomplished  historian  of  the  Huguenots. 
Dr.  Baird  has  nut  only  exceptional  familiarity  with  the  period,  but  fullest  sym- 
pathy with  the  hero,  and  accoidingly  has  produced  a  book  of  special  interest  and 
value. " — Ch ristia >i  Intelligencer. 

v.— HULDREICH    ZWINGLI  (1484-1531)-      The   Reformer 

of   German   Switzerland.      By   Samuel   Macauley  Jackson, 

LL.D.     With  30  Illustrations,  a  Special  Map,  Battle  Plan,  and 

a  Facsimile  Letter.     12"      ......         $2.00 

"  It  is  notable  as  the  first  adequate  life  of  Zwingli  by  an  F.nglish-speaking 
author  .  .  .  portrays  the  man,  the  accomplished  scholar,  soci.d  reformer,  ardent 
patriot,  the  theologian,  so  far  in  advance  ol  his  time  as  to  stand  alone  in  the  faith 
that  all  infants  would  be  saved.  liut  Professor  J.ickson  is  no  eulogist  and 
exhibits  the  defects  of  Zwingli  with  unsparing  hand,  —  defects  which  appear  due 
to  his  time  and  circumstances,  and  far  less  serious  in  our  judgment  than  some 
which  lie  at  the  door  of  those  whose  fame  has  overshadowed  his."  —  The 
Outlook. 

Send  for  complete  descriptive  circular 
NEW  YORK a.    P.    PUTNAM'S    SONS LONDON 


HEROES  OF  THE  REFORMATION 


VI.— THOMAS    CRANMER    and   the   English   Reformation. 

1489-1556.     By  Albert  Frederick  Pollard,  M.  A. ,  F.R.H.S. 

With    21    Illustrations.       Crown    Octavo.       (By   mail,    $1.50.) 

Net $1.35 

"  The  life  of  the  eminent  martyr  is  here  presented  in  what  were  its  true  re- 
lations. Mr.  Pollard  has  fullest  sympathy  with  his  subject  ;  he  indicates  faults 
as  well  as  virtues  and  presents  a  vital  picture  of  the  great  prelate." — Detroit  Free 
Press. 

"  The  work  is  accurate,  scholarly,  and  free  from  partisan  bias  ...  a  rare 
virtue  in  English  works  on  Cranmer.  The  events  in  which  Cranmer  had  a  share 
are  recorded  with  fairness  and  accuracy." — The  Lititheran . 

VII.— JOHN    KNOX    the    Hero   of    the  Scottish   Reformation. 

By  Henry  Cowan,  D.D. 

With  28  Illustrations  and  2  Facsimile  Letters.     Crown  Octavo. 

(Postage,  15  cents.)     Net $i.35 

"  We  have  nothing  but  hearty  praise  to  give  to  Professor  Cowan's  book.  It 
seems  to  us  the  idealof  a  historical  manual  which,  while  perfectly  adapted  to  the 
tastes  of  the  general  reader,  is  based  on  a  genuine  examination  of  the  original 
authorities,  and  keeps  fully  in  view  the  claims  of  the  serious  student  who  wishes 
to  remain  in  touch  with  them  at  every  point." — GlasgoiD  Herald. 

Fot  list  of  volumes  in  preparation  see  separate  circular 


Heroes  of  the  Nations. 


A  Series  of  biographical  studies  of  the  lives  and 
work  of  a  number  of  representative  historical  char- 
acters about  whom  have  gathered  the  great  traditions 
of  the  Nations  to  which  they  belonged,  and  who  have 
been  accepted,  in  many  instances,  as  types  of  the 
several  National  ideals.  With  the  life  of  each 
typical  character  will  be  presented  a  picture  of  the 
National  conditions  surrounding  him  during  his 
career. 

The  narratives  are  the  work  of  writers  who  are 
recognized  authorities  on  their  several  subjects,  and, 
while  thoroughly  trustworthy  as  history,  will  present 
picturesque  and  dramatic  "stories"  of  the  Men  and 
of  the  events  connected  with  them. 

To  the  Life  of  each  "Hero"  will  be  given  one  duo- 
decimo volume,  handsomely  printed  in  large  type, 
provided  with  maps  and  adequately  illustrated  ac- 
cording to  the  special  requirements  of  the  several 
subjects. 

Nos.  1-32,  each Si. 50 

Half  leather .....1,75 

No.  ;^^  and  following  Nos.,  each 

(by  mail  Si. 50,    net  1.35) 
Half  leather  (by  mail,  $1.75) net    1.60 

For  full  list  of  volioncs  sec  next  page. 


HEROES  OF  THE  NATIONS 


NELSON.     By  W.  Clark  Russell. 
GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS.     By  C- 

R.  L.  Fletcher. 
PERICLES.     By  Evelyn  Abbott. 
THEODORIC    THE    GOTH.     By 

Thomas  Hodgkin. 
SIR  PHILIP  SIDNEY.     By  H.  R. 

Fox-Bourne. 
JULIUS  C^SAR.     By  W.  Warde 

Fowler. 
WYCLIF.     By  Lewis  Sergeant. 
NAPOLEON.     By     W.     O'Connor 

Morris. 
HENRY  OF  NAVARRE.     By  P. 

F.  Willert. 

CICERO.  By  J.  L.  Strachan- 
Davidson. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN.  By  Noah 
Brooks. 

PRINCE  HENRY  (OF  PORTU- 
GAL) THE  NAVIGATOR. 
By  C.  R.  Beazley. 

JULIAN    THE    PHILOSOPHER. 

By  Alice  Gardner. 
LOUIS  XIV.     By  Arthur  Hassall. 
CHARLES    XII.     By    R.     Nisbet 

Bain. 
LORENZO  DE'  MEDICI.     By  Ed- 
ward Armstrong. 
JEANNE    D'ARC.     By    Mrs.    Oli- 

phant. 
CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.    By 

Washington  Irving. 
ROBERT  THE  BRUCE.     By  Sir 

Herbert  Maxwell. 
HANNIBAL.     By     W.     O'Connor 

Morris. 


ULYSSES  S.  GRANT.  By  William 
Conant  Church. 

ROBERT  E.  LEE.  By  Henry 
Alexander  White. 

THE  CID  CAMPEADOR.  By  H. 
Butler  Clarke. 

SALADIN.  By  Stanley  Lane- 
Poole. 

BISMARCK.  By  J.  W.  Head- 
lam. 

ALEXANDER  THE  GREAT.  By 
Benjamin  I.  Wheeler. 

CHARLEMAGNE.  By  H.  W.  C. 
Davis. 

OLIVER  CROMWELL.  By 
Charles  Firth. 

RICHELIEU.  By  James  B.  Per- 
kins. 

DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  By  Rob- 
ert Dunlop. 

SAINT  LOUIS  (Louis  IX.  of 
France).     By  Frederick  Perry. 

LORD  CHATHAM.  By  Walford 
Davis  Green. 

OWEN  GLYNDWR.  By  Arthur 
G.  Bradley.     $1.35  net. 

HENRY  V.  By  Charles  L.  Kings- 
ford.     $1.35  net. 

EDWARD  I.  By  Edward  Jenks. 
$i.3S  net. 

AUGUSTUS  C^SAR.  By  J.  P 
Firth.     $1.35  net. 

FREDERICK  THE  GREAT.  By 
W.  F.  Reddaway. 

WELLINGTON.  By  W.  O'Connor 
Morris 

CONSTANTINE  THE  GREAT.  By 
J.  B.  Firth. 


HEROES  OF  THE  NATIONS 


Other  volumes  in  preparation  are: 


MOLTKE.     By  Spencer  Wilkinson. 
JUDAS  MACCAB.5US.     By  Israel 

Abrahams. 
SOBIESKI.     By  F.  A.  Pollard. 
ALFRED  THE  TRUTHTELLER. 

By  Frederick  Perry. 
FREDERICK     II.       By     A.      L. 

Smith. 
MARLBOROUGH,       By  C.  W.  C. 

Oman. 


RICHARD  THE  LION-HEARTED 
By  T.  A.  Archer. 

WILLIAM    THE    SILENT.       By 
Ruth  Putnam. 

CHARLES     THE     BOLD.         By 
Ruth  Putnam. 

GREGORY  VII.     By  F.  Urquhart. 

MAHOMET.  By  D.  S.  Margoliouth. 


New  York— G.  1'.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  Publishers— London 


Princeton  Theoloqical  Seminanr  Libraries 


1012  01207  2312 


1                          DATE  DUE 

P' 

\>^^ 

HIGHSMITH  #45115 

m 
4 


ar    :  * 


